Strange Behavior

Well, one thing is for certain, online dating is providing me with plenty of fodder to write about. Here is the latest weird thing to happen... And even weirder, it happened three times today!

I have posted an age range of 28-38. I would ideally want someone at least my age, but two years younger seems reasonable. I'm really not too interested in anything younger because of mature, and I am also not interested in too much older because I'm just not (so there!) Does this age range stop people from emailing me? No. And that is fine... why not give it a shot. I then email back and politely tell the person they are either too young or too old. (I try to email anyone who emails me because I think it is polite.) So, one guy started the contact by saying he is too old and that that is too bad. I email back, thank him for his kind words (he said something nice) and wish him luck on his search. He responds that he is really a young 40 and precedes to tell me all about how they always tell him that at work. Okay... I now feel like I am in a debate, and he somehow thinks if he proves to me that he isn't really, despite the year he was born, the age he is. Groan.

Another guy who was 25 (25!) sends me a message. I reply explaining that he is a little under my age range. He responds that he has just had a birthday, so he is actually 26. I tell him that that is fine, but he is still under my age range. He precedes to try to convince me that he isn't too young and that I "shouldn't judge a book by its cover." And there was a third one, but it wasn't as interesting as these two.

Really, do these men think they are going to convince me I should go out with them? Who are they kidding? If I thought they were great, I wouldn't have turned them down. I just don't get the really aggressive messages. I don't understand what they think they will accomplish. It makes me think that just ignoring emails would be better (or not online dating at all...)

Today I had another weird experience (actually there were two like this, but the other one is much more complicated and doesn't involve religion but does involve a gross misunderstanding). A guy thought I was blowing him off because I said, "so you are a strong Christian" and inquired how many Christian themed tattoos he had. Honestly, I was just curious! His reply back to me was really defensive. I was shocked! I have my religion marked, so he could clearly see I wasn't anti-Christian or anything.