CauponaVenereae wrote:
I'm sure you would be able to find a great catch without a dating site.

Thanks for the thought, but because of the way my life is structured and my work, I do NOT encounter people in "daily life" who share my interests, or are a suitable age for me. Most people I meet are in their 50s and 60, or older, and I live in an area where the younger men are mostly very "thug." Many sell drugs, or are in and out of jail. I'm not into that; I went to college, own my own vehicle, live alone, support myself, and have no interest in dating what is readily available to me (which is, unfortunately, mostly street hustlers). There is a very serious heroine epidemic in my area, and it has even been hard to meet people in my age bracket who are not IV drug users. No, I'm not joking; I'm being 100% serious.

In general, I will sometimes go 4-5 days at a time without speaking to anyone at all, despite being surrounded by people on some days. I drive into Boston, walk around, go to coffee shops, look at stuff. I can spend 8-9 hours out alone, and unless I go out of my way to speak to a stranger (most of whom act shocked, as though they can't believe they are being spoken to), I have no significant exchanges with others. I have maybe 4 local friends, and they are spread out across the state, and I see each of them only occasionally.

It is very hard for me to meet people, and because of the factors mentioned above,  I have a limited social life outside of home with my cats, and travel for work. My last relationship was from a dating site, and while it didn't work out (ex was obsessed with extreme outdoor sports, and I wasn't "good enough," or bad ass enough at those sports to suit him), at least being on there gave me opportunities to connect with people and go out with the INTENT of engaging someone in conversation.

Getting someone to actually TALK to you, unless you're going somewhere to meet them for that specific reason, it just pointless. I've driven myself half crazy in the past, just trying to initiate conversations with people.