The Basics

On Tues morning, Kevin and Bean from KROQ fielded online dating horror stories! The best one that stood out to me involved a woman who showed up on her date 8 months pregnant. Apparently, when the guy caller had asked if her photos on her site were recent, she said yes. Because after all, within one year is pretty darn recent. The kicker is when he asked why she didn't say anything before they met. She answered "well you never asked."
Sometimes you wonder if you're just taking certain things for granted. Years ago when I met my friend's then boyfriend for the first time, he asked if I would mind being set up. Then he proceeded to ask me the usual questions "Is height important? Career? Ethnicity? Then he asked in half-seriousness "Is hygiene important?" He was from Berkeley and just wanted to cover his bases. At the time, I thought "I haven't dated much at all, but is that an optional thing now?!"
Anyway, the stuff we don't list, the stuff we assume is a given - honesty, strong moral ethic, Hygiene, a place to live... do people compromise on that? Sometimes I feel like Bridget Fonda's character in the movie Singles, when she was telling her friend about what she wanted in a guy. She said she used to want someone who was nice, smart, sense of humor, had a good job, and someone who would say "bless you" when she sneezed. Her friend asked her "what about now?" She answered "Someone who will say Gesundheit when I sneeze. Though I prefer bless you."