As a result of my “don’t get stuck in a rut” story, a journo mate strongly suggested I register with RSVP.
She had plenty of mates who used it, she told me, and the only problem was a chronic lack of blokes.
Blokes like me? Ha – I found and find that very, very hard to believe.
But I did it anyway.
Interesting exercise – and bit of a creepy one, too.
A few nibbles here and there but nothing of substance.
A few weeks in, I compiled this list of quotes from those with whom RSVP had “matched” me:
“I can think of better things to do with my time than read a book.”
“I enjoy novels and have read Gone with the Wind and the sequel Scarlett and many more.”
“Does reading my Melways and emails count? Time poor for a good read.”
“Don’t read much but do enjoy reading my Woman’s Day, New Idea and Fashion Magazines.”
“Not much time to read novels, but I enjoy magazines.”
“Not a big country & western, jazz or classical fan.”
“Definitely no country music!”
Obviously, when compiling my profile I had not done a very good job of communicating about myself.
So I updated by inserting the following sentences:
“I don’t read women’s magazines.”
and …
“These tastes very much include country music. But only the real old-time wailing, bluesy downhome sounds of the 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s and 60s. Not today’s ‘rock with hats’. Yuck!”
And then today, in one of the three “matches” that RSVP seems to automatically spit out every day, I got the following from a person who claimed to be very much in to “music, music, music”:
“Please no country and western.”
Oh dear … account terminated.
consider the sauce 
Hilarious, Kenny, and thanks for sharing. Sad though, too, that these websites are so out of touch. I have a friend who used one and said most of the replies she got were from creeps, and of the others, none were remotely compatible.
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Yes. But it obviously works for some – including one CTS FB pal who just commented. It’s not that they’re out of touch, I think. It’s more that when you’re talking about free or very low-cost service, it’s all about very non-human software.
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Yes. Beats me why someone would reply to a person whose profile so obviously doesn’t suit them.
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I would never, for example, if I were single, reply to someone who said they loved going to the footy and camping in the outback…whoops! I married a person like that. Seriously, though, I guess you have to have a number of things in common: what they are can vary, but there have to be enough to override the things you don’t have in common.
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Hahahaha! You camping in the outback – sounds like a blog post to me! Yes, I agree – some stark differences may actually be a good thing. But in this case, there was obviously a pattern emerging. Women’s magazines – eeeek! And of course, all those “no country” comments came from people who simply have not heard the kind of country I like. Not that they’d like it anyway!
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They should try it—they might like it! I go back to something you said in a blog post years ago that has always stuck in my mind. It was something you say to your son regarding food: “You don’t have to like it, but you do have to try it”. Love that advice and have quoted it often since.
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Im surprised you havent meant anyone through consider the sauce , have you ever thought of joining a social group and meet people face to face
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Hi Sue! Have met heaps of great folks through CTS. Will meet many more. But it can seem like a bit of a closed loop sometimes.
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The best one I had Kenny was ‘must have own teeth’ ……??
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Haha. Of course, I am also a blues and R&B fan. As in, “Take out your false teeth, mama, I want to suck on your gums!”
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I think people have a very misconstrued idea of what constitutes country music – as Caron has already said, you really don’t know you’ll like something unless you’re open to it.
Reading those replies I understand why you closed your account – I don’t think you’ve missed out on much!
Thank you for sharing your story and I wish you all the best – there are so many ways to meet people and, as in my own personal experience, I’ve found that you will come across that gem of a person when you’re least expecting it (cliché I know, but it has happened to be every time). I have no doubt that special person is out there.
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