Find true love today - in Essos

The day is Saturday 27 April 2013, at around 8: 30 p.m. to be precise. I am at a cybercafe in Muea, trying to pen a new piece for my fledgling blog. I am not looking but when my eyes wander away from my laptop, I stumble on a kid sitting opposite me. I see he has landed on a famous dating website with Afro and introduction - in the plural form - in its name. I am no magician but I can attest to the veracity of two things. 1- this kid is not more than 15. 2 - he is creating his PROFILE on an ADULT dating site. The ad line for the site is 'FIND TRUE LOVE TODAY'. 

                Internet dating is an increasing phenomenon that has its admirers and enemies. The idea of brewing a sincere, pure and serious relationship with another person through a virtual interface appeals to the very cautious as well as the very lecherous and even perverse: pedophiles and co. Notwithstanding general arguments for or against, the appropriateness of internet dating just like face-to-face over dinner dating depends on each and everyone. However since minors are yet to be fully - capacited persons in the eyes of society, it goes without saying that internet dating isn't for them under any circumstance whatsoever because dating is a science still to be fully understood and mastered even by adults. Adults, no matter how cautious they be, have been used and dumped literally and metaphorically by persons they stumbled upon online. Cyber relationship hunting just like general internet use needs some amount of wisdom and discernment to be able to squeeze the best and highest quantity of juice from it.

          One argument that has become the bread and butter of some anti-internet dating advocates is the fact that it is unnatural. But to this one can respond that if every generation eats, breathes and thinks in sync with their time, why should dating be any different? When letters were at the top of the chats, those then dated via letters, becoming exquisite prose poets in the process. Before phones, some people dated through word of mouth sent through others. The list here is incomplete. Bottomline, every generation irrespective of the dangers dates with the tools provided by their time. They do so within the confines of existing conventions.

       So it's sometime in August 2010. Someone is about to go on internship. He has been chatting with this lady on one of these formerly - popular social media sites. Their relationship has blossomed to the point where they have exchanged numbers and promised to hook up when he gets to Yaounde. Upon arrival in the capital city of Cameroon, he calls her and they arrange to meet - in ESSOS - over the weekend. Though a complete stranger in town, he summons the adventurer and man in him to get to Essos, with the help of directions from unsuspecting friends. He gets there and after calling the girl, he is told to wait at the petrol station. Ever Mr I-hate-surprises, he places himself somewhere other than at the petrol station. He puts his phone on vibration and sets his eyes prowling around while he tries to call the  number. Suddenly, he sees two ladies hurrying up the road, in the direction of the station. He identifies his internet date as one of the ladies. The other lady is ,he won't say fat, big boned and voluptuous. She actually looks like someone who can drink a crate of Guinness, he thinks. He remembers he prepared only the now - small sum of 5,000 CFA Francs for this date. What does he do? He decides to bails out. He returns to the petrol station as rain starts falling. He can see his date and her 'governess',  or 'chaperon' if you like', frantic as they call him on phone. His phone is vibrating constantly like a vibrator but he won't answer. The rain ceases and he hails a cab, jumps in and flees the scene.

     That is internet dating. You never know what you bargain for virtually. It's an adventure so always tighten your seatbelt. You can try it if you want to find true love today in Essos.