The way it should be

Bradley sat in the college library doing research and homework on his laptop. He was a pretty shy young man and he found it hard to join the tables of students that were working together. He always ended up sitting in a single workstation on his own.

Growing a bit bored with his Shakespeare research, Bradley decided to check his email. He found a few messages from friends, inviting him to a party here or there and a couple of notes from his family back home. Of course, there was also a bunch of spam emails and, as he browsed the subject lines, Bradley realized just how many were for dating websites. There was generally a picture of a sexy woman caressing the arm of an equally sexy man or some such thing. Bradley had never considered dating websites as a legitimate way to meet someone but he did know of a lot of students at the college that used them regularly. They found it to be a fun alternative to their usual social networking sites.

Bradley was a really shy guy and, at the age of 20, had yet to meet his first love. He hadn't dated much in high school but he had been very active in sports and a variety of clubs and organizations, so his lack of dates didn't really seem too obvious. Sure, his friends had tried to set him up on a few blind dates, but Bradley always had a ready commitment to use as a reason to avoid them.

"What are you looking at there, buddy?" Bradley suddenly heard, just over his shoulder. It was his friend, Stewart, who had shocked him out of his stroll down memory lane. "Aw nothing," Bradley said, "just checking email." "Oh, I thought you were going to sign up for one of those dating websites," Stewart replied. "Who me? Are you kidding?" Bradley laughed. "Well, I don't know... I think they're pretty cool myself. I've had a few great dates with chicks I've met on dating websites." Bradley had laughed to cover his own embarrassment at being caught surfing the ads but he was completely intrigued by Stewart's comment. "Seriously?" he asked and Stewart nodded. He went on to explain that, because he was an exchange student, he didn't know anyone when he came to the school and he found it hard to meet girls. So, he had created profiles on a couple of sites and met some on-line. He assured Bradley that, while not every date was very successful, he generally had a pretty good time. "You really should think about signing up, man," Stewart said, as he lightly punched Bradley in the shoulder. "Anyway, I have to get to class... see you later!" As Stewart walked away, Bradley turned back to the dating site ads and began to read them with a different attitude. Maybe this would be something interesting after all.