What’s it like being a single, twenty-something, gal dating in Bucks County? Follow Single in the Suburbs as she takes us on her dating (mis)adventures! For more fun in between articles, follow her on Twitter.

Bucks is a big county. There's a lot to cover and it takes over well over an hour to get from one end to the other. Thousands and thousands live here, therefore there must be boys I haven't met!!  How do I meet them when I'm usually not around the rest of the area much?

“You should just try it,” a friend told me, “It's free! What have you got to lose?” Free? I can only imagine the types of people on there…

“Just do it – at least for fun!” Ok, ok. You convinced me. I'll fill out this online dating profile and see who else, equally as crazy as me, has completed one. In all honestly, I secretly love filling out profiles about myself. As terrible as it comes across, talking about my likes and dislikes is fun and one of the easiest things for me to do! Here goes nothing…

The responses were actually nice. Nothing creepy. The creepiest thing about it all is just that here were these random people reading all of this “personal” info right off the bat. I guess one could argue that Twitter and Facebook are a bit like that, but this was different.

I didn't message anyone back that I didn't think was cute. It's terrible, I know. But if I was going to do this, it was going to be worth it! There were a few potentials here and there, but no one that really stood out to me. I didn't really search around either. I just let the messages come. One of the nice things about it was when you were having a bad day, or a date went sour,  you could just sign in and there were a couple messages from strangers say nice things to you. Definite ego boost.

To describe online dating, my friend, we'll call her Penelope, the one who accompanies me on many nights out, sent me an article that I feel really sums up everything. I actually laughed out loud and could relate with many of the anecdotes.

So what does this all have to do with Bucks County you may ask? Well…

Penelope and I were at one of my favorite bars/hangouts in Bucks- great beer, good atmosphere, especially on a Sunday night. It was a long weekend, and we weren't quite ready to go home so we decided to grab a drink and relax.

We talked about the weekend, boys, and life, all while laughing and sipping our drinks, and the whole time we sat at the bar I had a feeling that the boys across the bar were watching us. I ignored it. It happens with Penelope a lot. She's just a winner! The night went on, and we were finishing up. I still felt as though the guy across the bar was looking. I tried not to think anything of it, paid the bill, and parted ways with P.

Right before bed I decided to login to check if anyone fun had messaged me. Two new messages. Okay! One was from a guy I had messaged back and forth with briefly already, the other new. I clicked on “back-and-forth” guy.

“Hey, I think I saw you out tonight…”

WHAT!!??? I didn't read any further. How can this be!?? This was supposed to be on the DL! We don't meet until it's time! I calmed down and thought rationally. When you live somewhere relatively “small,” like Bucks, how did I not think I would possibly see an online “acquaintance” out one night? I looked at his picture. It was definitely him that was looking over the whole night. I suddenly felt like everyone knew my big “secret.”

Moral of the Story: Online dating, when living in a fantastic place like this where people tend to go to the same places, can be either 1) Nice, because the guys out at the bars don't seem like such strangers anymore or 2) Very weird, like all the dudes know your business.

I guess what I'm saying is, you can either save yourself the possible recognition and continue meeting people around Bucks the old-fashioned way or you can give online dating a shot and the next time you're at Isaac's or Stephanie's or Havana you can say, “Oh hey! Don't I know you from somewhere?” Either way, both will make Bucks feel a lot smaller; which depending on how you look at it, isn't necessarily a bad thing!

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