Jane Coloccia
“Confessions of An Online Dating Addict” is a humorous and honest look at the world of Internet dating. Approximately 60 million Americans date online and there are over 800 Internet dating sites.
This book is a true first-person account of the author’s experiences with cyber dating and tracks her evolution from initiation into the online dating arena through eight years of dating.
Along the way, you’ll meet the different “characters” she has connected with, laugh and cry as she navigates her way through the web of the online dating world, learn about her struggles in dealing with relationships and singlehood, and get an insider’s perspective on do’s and don’ts in online dating, what to watch out for, and recommendations for those who are considering online dating. The book’s style is a combination of “Sex and the City” meets “Bridget Jones’ Diary” meets “He’s Just Not That Into You.”
Jane Coloccia is a true online dating expert having met more than 200 men in her dating escapades in both New York City and suburban New Jersey.
Follow along as she meets unavailable men, stalkers, conquistadors, younger men, older men, and even tries to give up dating altogether! This is the perfect book for those of you who date online, who are intrigued by the prospect, or who have been happily married and wonder what the heck really goes on in the world of Internet dating.
Jane Coloccia is a trained journalist who has worked as a writer and public relations and marketing consultant for the past 23 years.
She began her career as the Assistant Travel Editor of Modern Bride Magazine and then made a move to the public relations side. At the age of 27, Jane opened her own public relations agency, JC Communications, LLC that she still maintains to this day. Jane is a published magazine author and a noted speaker in the hospitality industry.
Jane began her quest for “Mr. Right” in the online arena more than 10 years ago at the recommendation of a friend who married the tenth man she met and since then has been on most of the major dating sites including Match.com, eHarmony, Matchmaker.com, AmericanSingles.com, Cupid.com, and even Jdate!
She has met more than 200 men, corresponded online with hundreds more, and through her experiences is a bona fide expert in the cyber dating world. She currently lives just outside of Princeton, New Jersey.
TRYING TO GET OVER MYSELFI suppose I’m a snob when it comes to dating. No, I’ll admit it. I am a snob when it comes to dating.
I know, I know — it might not seem like it. I dated the farty ferry boat captain and a bi-polar Ronald McDonald, but those were against my better judgment and in moments of desperation. Really.
Deep down I really see myself with a successful man who makes a good living, drives a good car, has a good education, and lives in a nice neighborhood.
Perhaps it is the old Cinderella curse from my upbringing — as young girls we are told the “Prince” will come to whisk us away and we will live happily ever after. I wasn’t like a lot of my friends who expected the man I married to support me 100% and make an excellent living, but I did want this person to have a job or career I would be proud of talking about to my friends.
One day, not long after I found out my “Perfect Guy” Roger was now in a serious relationship with someone, I realized I couldn’t pine for him any longer and I really needed to move on. At about the same time, I got an e-mail from Justin. Hey, I had a live one here! He was 36 years old and lived in Staten Island. Borough. I didn’t really do borough. If you’re not a New Yorker, “borough” means the other parts of New York City besides the island of Manhattan, including Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx, Staten Island, etc. (And Mike doesn’t count.)
But Justin wrote me very nice notes about how attractive I was. His profile didn’t list his career, so I asked what he did and he told me he worked for the City of New York.
“What do you do for the City of New York?” I asked. I mean, that could be anything from repairing streets to the Deputy Mayor.
“I work for the Department of Sanitation,” he replied.
“Uh oh,” I thought. This was a little disconcerting.
“What do you do for the Department of Sanitation?” I asked.
“I pick up garbage,” he replied.
Oh no! Could there be a worse job one could have than a garbage man?
Actually, when I told a close friend she said it would be worse if he was a porn star. Yes, I suppose that would have been worse. But not by much.
I have to say his admission stopped me in my tracks for a moment. Could I really bring myself to date a garbage man? Here I was a college educated, successful woman with my own business and I was about to date a garbage man? I couldn’t have landed any farther from my “Perfect Guy” if I tried.
And then a friend said it really shouldn’t matter what he did, but who he was as a person. So I decided to get over myself and meet him for coffee on a Sunday afternoon. I suppose it helped he did indeed have a four-year college degree and had majored in psychology. He was also studying to get his private pilot’s license. He wasn’t stupid. I’m not exactly sure why he chose to be a garbage man. Does anyone really choose it as a profession? Does anyone say, “Mom, when I grow up, I want to be a garbage man!”
I invited Justin to meet me at a cool coffee house on the Upper West Side. I arrived first, and the coffee house was overflowing with people. So I sat on a bench out front waiting for him. He was late. After about 15 minutes, I saw him crossing the street wearing some sort of strange hat, and I thought, “Oh boy … here we go.”
I was being terribly judgmental right from the beginning and found myself looking for something that would make this not work out. When he got closer, I got a better look at him. He had a beautiful complexion, chiseled features, and nice blue eyes.
It was clear we were never going to get a seat in the coffee house, so we decided to walk down the street and see what we can find. We came across an Italian restaurant, and since neither of us had eaten, we decided to grab a bite.
I noticed Justin didn’t put his napkin on his lap, and when our salad was served, he seemed a little embarrassed.
“I was never good with all this silverware on the table and trying to figure out which is the right fork to use,” he said, and laughed nervously.
“I know. It can be intimidating. Let me share a little trick with you I learned years ago. You just work your way from the outside to the inside,” I said. And off we went. But the fact he admitted he didn’t know what to do was heartwarming to me.
He seemed very nervous, and I felt bad for him. But we had a nice conversation, and after lunch he asked if I wanted to take a walk in Central Park with him, which was just a few blocks away. It had started raining, and I had an umbrella and he didn’t. As we crossed the street, I slipped (must have been the oil and rain mixed together on the pavement) and went face down in the street like a ton of bricks. Could I have been more embarrassed?
Justin quickly reached down and helped me up. To lighten up the moment I said, “See, I’m already falling for you!”
“I’d better hold your hand to make sure you don’t fall again,” he said. I liked that.
We walked around the park and talked for a long time. Conversation came very easily between us, and I had to admit Justin was a really nice, gentle, kind man. After awhile, he leaned over and kissed me, and the chemistry was definitely there.
