This may seem like a silly issue, but it came up recently so I wanted to address it. A gal pal shared that she was a bit put off on a first date by a guy pulling out a 2-for-1 coupon when the bill arrived. Even though he was paying, she thought it made him…
Dating after 40
Customer service parallels to dating
The other day a reporter interviewed me for an article on customer service. (In my professional life, I’m a bestselling author and expert on strategic customer service.) As she asked me question after question, I kept thinking, “This is just the same as in dating!” Or “I posted a blog entry about how that works…
Readers: Want/need your input
Periodically, I’ll ask for your input on things that are going on in the DG world. If you’d prefer to email me directly rather than post your ideas, do so at Goddess@DatingGoddess.com. Your input is appreciated! ———– A producer contacted me to be a radio show guest to discuss midlife dating. He wanted to focus…
Go dutch or accept your date’s offer to treat?
I was talking to a friend about how to deal with paying for a meal when you’re first dating someone. Friend: I always insist on paying for my own meal. At least until we’re going together exclusively. Me: Why do you insist? Friend: I don’t want to feel beholden. Me: Beholden for what? Friend: I…
Virtual dating: the future of courtship?
A recent Harvard Business School Working Knowledge article, “Online Match-Making with Virtual Dates,” explains how virtual dating is a better way of getting to know someone than emailing and IMing. Academics Jeana H. Frost, Michael I. Norton and Dan Ariely looked at online dating and how it can be improved. After interviewing online daters they…
How to trump being dumped
To trump: outshine, outclass, upstage, eclipse, surpass, outdo, outperform; beat, better, top, cap; be a cut above, be head and shoulders above, leave standing. Yesterday, a new friend told me he’d been dumped by his last sweetheart, and was still stinging from it many months later. Me: What was the reason for the breakup? He:…
Husband in training
Fifteen years ago, a guy pal 10 years my junior was bemoaning that he wanted to be married. Really wanted to be married. I asked him some key questions, then announced my diagnosis: He needed to know how to act like a husband. Then the women he dated would see he was ready for marriage….
“Is that so?” — A lesson in non-attachment
The Zen story goes: In a mountainside village, a teenaged girl got pregnant. She was so terrified to tell her parents the truth, she told them the father was an old monk living nearby. When the child was born, the outraged parents took the baby to him and said, “This baby is yours,” and gave…
Suffering is optional
When our dating activities don’t go as we’d like, it is easy to get into a funk. We can drive ourselves crazy wondering what is wrong with us that we can’t seem to attract anyone at all, or the men we do attract are disinterested in a relationship, have other afflictions, or we aren’t drawn…
What would you do if you were brave?
At the beginning of this new year, I think this is a question to ask ourselves about dating for ’07. My friend, the amazing musical artist Jana Stanfield, created a song around this question. “If I Were Brave” goes, in part: What would I do if I knew that I could not fail? If I…
Reflections and resolutions
This is the time of year we look back at what we’ve learned and accomplished and look forward with plans for what we want to improve. Here are my dating reflections and resolutions. Reflections — dating lessons learned in ’06 While my dating quantity has slowed, my quality has improved. I continue to meet some…