There's this fellow I know who has proffered up some opinions about the on-line dating experience that I would like to share.

First, he said, "time after time we go through the pages and pages of smiling humans, some so seemingly happy it makes us want to weep for our own lost dream of The Land of Later Years Bliss."

Ouch, I thought. Is he right?

Digging deeper into his psyche about his on-line experience, I learned that he has developed an acronym to describe how he experiences the mating game. It's called PCM. Not standing for Personal Computer Magazine or Please Call Me, two wild stabs I made attempting to figure out what he was talking about, "no" said he, "Perfect Conceptual Mate." And he's right. Those of us doing the on-line thing do it.

Here's what happens. There is the initial contact,  the emails, the phone chats, the going back to read and reread the  profile, the date is made, where to go, what to wear, hearts beat and pulses quicken, the encounter occurs and then…oh dear, oh my, oh shit. The PCM that was conjured up, didn't show up.

"And thus," he said, "explains why the just wait and see is my new mantra." He continued saying "it's not likely that I will get excited again about the prospect of meeting, for the first time, a lovely intelligent, available woman that I've evaluated and processed and maximized through an on-line dating meeting-place thingy. And, I think that's a good thing. It's more realistic, and I'm not as likely to get caught in one of those whirlwind romances; intense and exciting and memorable as they can be…short-lived is more likely the result."

Ouch, again, I thought. Such temperance. Dreams of the Land of Later Years Bliss going up in smoke.

So I suggested to him a new acronym.  "Let's set your sights a tad more realistically" I said. "How's this" I suggested, "to keep hope alive?  PPPPPPCM."

Perhaps, Perhaps, Potentially, Promising, Palatable, Perfect Conceptual Mate.