Joan Allen & Dan Collins, The Examiner
2006-11-25 08:00:00.0
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BALTIMORE -

Who has it worse, single men or women?

DAN: If an attractive woman decides she wants to meet a young gentleman, well, let’s just say, a hot apple pie won’t sit on the sill long before Spanky, Froggy and the rest of the little boy-rascals come calling. On the other hand, you can sit Alfalfa at the window all day long without catching Darla’s eye.

JOAN: I disagree. I know a lot of gorgeous women 30 and up who sit at home on Saturday nights dateless.

It can be pretty tough for women, especially with Internet dating sites where male serial daters are only looking for the youngest and most beautiful women “they can get.” Listen to this: I offered to introduce a less-than-average-looking male, 36, to an attractive woman two years his senior, and his answer was, “No, I can still get a woman in her 20s to early 30s.” I returned his money.

DAN: You’ve called me a serial dater and I don’t think that’s fair, as it is unfair to say the same for these men who are supposedly looking for their own Gwyneth Paltrow.

In my case, it’s the desire to find magic and that’s hard to do rummaging through the Internet dating bargain bin, especially with women who think THEY can “get someone better,” richer, taller, more Brad Pitt-ish.

What I resent is this morally superior high ground women aspire to, that somehow it is only these shallow men (boo! hiss!) who are interested in youth, beauty and means while they (cue violin music) are ready to embrace Quasimodo’s hump as long as there’s a heart of gold beating beneath it.

Pardon me while I retch.

JOAN: Well, well. I think I hit a nerve. I tend to agree on this issue with Ken Norris, 51, a single financial services wizard. He says, “The younger the women, the easier it is for them to meet men. The older the men, the easier they have it. A woman in her 20s and 30s, dressed decently, not 50 pounds overweight, sitting at a bar by herself, will have no problem finding a date. My 76-year-old uncle, who you might describe as a nerd, is getting hit on by good-looking women 10 years his junior.”

DAN: The truth can indeed be painful. Though I’m not sure if I buy this “older the guy, the easier they have it” scenario.

That only works if you have the financial stability that one might expect of having survived between the Eisenhower and Bush administrations. Somehow I doubt your uncle would be getting these offers from Bo Derek-types if he was living at the YMCA and drove a Gremlin.

And let’s face it, looking like John Forsythe doesn’t hurt.

Dan Collins is a terminally single 40-something writer and local PR maven. Joan Allen is a noted matchmaker extraordinaire, and author of “Celebrating Single and Getting Love Right: From Stalemate to Soulmate.”