OK Stupid: The Eternal Loneliness of the 40-Something Dating Scene in OKC

I’ve come to realize that many people don’t meet the old-fashioned way anymore, instead coming together through the devious world of dating apps, where people put their most fraudulent foot forward and see how long they can carry the scam off for. And the best place to do this, apparently, is OK Cupid.

I’ve been off and on OK Cupid—known as the free dating site that proves, every day, you get what you pay for—for a little over a year now and, honestly, it’s made me feel lonelier than ever, as I am now convinced that my time for love and romance and other amorous feelings deep inside me has ultimately passed.

But, at 43, a decade divorced and a stroke survivor, I’ve only done it to myself.

I decided early in 2021 that this was going to be the last year I pimp myself out before I enter a monk-like state of singledom. I gave myself three chances—that seemed fair enough, I thought—before closing down my OK Cupid profile, where I tried my very best to sell myself as someone worth dating.

I have had a few nibbles over the past year, the kind where you talk and text for a few days, counting down the moments until they just disappear into the cyber-ether, never to hear from them again. I was, however, lucky enough to have a few dates—well, sort of—and, as I’m writing this now, you can tell they didn’t go well.

For example, there was...