dating sucks

Before I got married, in 1990, dating was fun. Now that I'm single again, in my 30s and the mother of three, it has thus far been a huge pain the ass. I've had a number of first dates, none of which were that great and some of which were truly awful.

The worst:

-The man who told me all about his major organ transplant -in EXTREMELY graphic detail - before the food came.

-The guy who told me that he would kill his ex-wife if he thought he could get away with it without getting caught.

-The date-from-hell who asked me if my breasts were real, after he had two beers (they are)

-The photographer who brought a flip-album of his work - consisting entirely of dozens of nude women and bizarre (and not very good) goth scenes and insisted I look at the entire thing and comment on each photo during our first meeting, which was supposed to be just casually getting together for drinks.

-The guy who told me he believes children -- especially boys -- NEED to be smacked around to "toughen them up"

-The creepiest of all: the blind-date set up via an acquaintance who lost all interest in getting together when I told him I would not be bringing my children. After he pressed me on the point,insisting he really wanted to meet my kids, I told him it was unlikely I would let ANYONE I went out with meet my children for many, many, many months -- until I knew that person really well. He never called again.