|
A survey by FastLife, a speed dating service, has revealed that 92 per cent of its 400 clients chose doctors as their top date.
This should not come as a surprise in Canada where timely health care is unavailable and a million people can't find a family physician.
In the absence of a datable doctor, men picked models as their second choice while women chose lawyers (tied with architects).
If it weren't for lawyers, an anonymous pundit once quipped, we wouldn't need them.
No. 3 best date for men: air hostess (the classification used in the survey to refer to flight attendants); followed by dancers in fourth-place. Clearly, women are looking for someone with money; men are looking to score. Indeed, another survey by the same dating service found that 44 per cent of men want to get lucky on the first date while only 23 per cent of women would entertain the notion.
In a related online survey, respondents also ranked the sexiest professions. Men chose those they would date -- models, air hostesses and dancers; women chose athletes and firefighters. So even though athletes and firefighters were chosen by 78 per cent and 75 per cent of women respectively as careers that excite, neither made the grade as a top date.
Another survey by Elle Canada last month revealed what we all know to be true. More than 60 per cent of women would not date a man who earned significantly less than they do, compared with less than four per cent of men who have that concern.
Some other findings: Two-thirds of women believe the man should pay the bill for the first date; 60 per cent of men think it should be shared. Nearly two-thirds of women prefer a career-oriented man to a family guy, while a majority of men want a family-focused woman.
This is all depressing stuff. One might have hoped that the dating game was about finding a soulmate, someone who connects emotionally, intellectually and chemically. It should be about the search for love and the kind of relationship that can lead to a lifetime of caring, partnerships that can raise happy confident children. We need someone who can make us laugh, comfort us in grief, shoulder some of the burden, celebrate our success and pour a stiff drink in defeat.
What has that got to do with dating an architect or an air hostess?
In the FastLife survey, 31 per cent of women said they would date a politician while only 20 per cent men would do so, which raises the question: Why do we vote for them?
Why are politicians, to whom we give the responsibility of governing the nation, less appealing as dating material than plumbers, accountants, real estate agents, teachers, sales assistants, builders, social workers or pilots -- all chosen by a larger percentage than politicians, who were dead last? Could it be that politicians just get a lot of bad press?
While we'd never presume to take the place of the legions of advisers to the lovelorn, it seems that finding the right mate should be more than a job interview. Sure, gather the facts, weigh the assets and liabilities and calculate the risk-reward ratio; then go with your heart.
| 
