Cold Feet

I spent some time - too much time - this afternoon ambling around the internet, following links from this to that, and somehow stumbled across the following information. In the UK, the average age of a female marrying (for the first time) is 28years. And a frankly staggering 30% of those are under the age of 25. An article in the New York Times identified - I think aimed at women - how to become a family of three (i.e. husband and whippersnapper) in a mere two years. Which does at least suggest it is possible for someone as unutterably single as myself to target and obtain appropriate bloke before I hit that 'average' age (and how tedious to be part of the 'average', I feel...). Mind you, I couldn't be bothered to read the article in detail enough to establish whether the pointers were directed specifically toward New Yorkers.

I also read somewhere or other about how some chick is fed up with her male friends being married off. Dammit, I agree wholeheartedly on that front. In the last two years, I have 'lost' three good friends in this way (and according to statistics on men and average marrying age, I don't think that should be happening just yet). And frankly, I may as well write-off to some degree the guys who I used to hang out with who are now in 'committed' (a word that makes half the world cringe as they read it) relationships. (Good God, this post is getting an awful lot of brackets in it. Ah well).

One of my female friends has recently gotten so tired of bashing her head against a brick wall that she has opted for one of these dating websites. Have yet to make a firm decision one way or the other about these, but generally, I think I'd go bright red for the rest of eternity if I had to answer the question, 'so, how did you guys meet then?' by saying, 'um, yeah, online.' It is depressing. [Disclaimer at this point: these are views pertaining to ME personally, before one reader in particular goes and gets offended, i.e. friend who recently signed up to the dating site]. To me, it is an admission that I'm so socially inept and so utterly hidden away from the rest of the world that the only place I can meet people is on a virtual plane. Furthermore, it is an admission that I am so cursedly unattractive that I couldn't even get a guy by luring him in that way. There are no two ways about it: the unattractive people of the world have twice as much work to do as the attractive ones. And frankly, getting to the point where I have to meet people online is the equivalent of saying I'm so ghastly that nobody can bear speak to me except via a series of pixels.

The world of the singleton is gradually becoming a less appealing place to be in. The longer you are at this stage, the less likely you are to find someone who is classifiable as a 'catch' (either by your definition or anybody else's), because people are constantly going over to The Other Side. It used to be great: I had guaranteed 'thump monkeys'; people around to proffer hugs when necessary; guys to go places with when you needed a guy. Now, they're all depressingly unavailable - off leading other lives with other people. Occasionally, it crosses my mind to head back to Argentina - but even my 'friends' out there are busy pairing off. My God, before I know it, I'm going to be one of those women who hangs around in bars wearing way too much lipstick and leering at every man in sight. Or even worse, getting battered out of my brains and informing complete strangers that, wow, I love them! yes! really! Hmm.

See, for example, my feet have been numb all day. We're talking ten hours of not being able to feel my feet. I have on three pairs of socks, and they are sandwiched in between two hot water bottles I'm regularly re-filling. Think I've fairly firmly established that I'm not getting my feet warm by myself. Where the hell is a guy when you need one.