At the end of the day, EV.ER.Y.ONE. has a right to their preference in what they want in a romantic partner. No one is owed a relationship just because they have an interest in someone or they want to be saved from a lonely existence. We all, male and female, have a right to self determination once we are out of our parent's house.

So a person isn't shallow just because they won't give you a chance on a dating site. They are exercising the same right to their preferences as you are.

Perhaps their inner qualities don't mesh with yours, either. That doesn't make either of you wrong: it makes you wrong for each other and it's best to know up front, based upon what one chooses to share in their profile, whether or not one wants to enter into something with the other.

It's that simple.

They are not bitter, resentful and out to punish like the overwhelming numbers of men over 50

Thank you!

I'm getting so sick and tired of bitter old men trying to punish all women because they chose wrong in their youth. If it's like that for them, post under the gay section and find a man that you know won't go after your money, since all women seem to be rapacious predators.

Old age?

Hmmm... I prefer to call it "vintage level".

I've been by myself longer than I've been in a relationship and I don't feel lonely at all... not that I wouldn't mind companionship every now and then, but one chooses to be lonely and shut off from others. As everything else in life, it's a choice. I choose to take an oil painting class, not because I'm lonely, but because I've always wanted to learn how to use oil paint and I've done all the other media--watercolor, pencils, markers, acrylics, gouache and now it's time for "vintage level": oil.

Last year, I traveled to Europe by myself because I had a couple of bucket list items to tick off the list, not because I thought I'd be starring in my own mid life romantic comedy about finding love on the Eurostar. I do things which interest me and fuels my passion in life, not because I'm desperately searching for someone keep me from being in my own company. If I waited for someone else to come around in order to start living, I'd be in a nursing home still regretting that I didn't do what I'd always longed to do because I was waiting on someone to rescue me from myself.

One thing is for certain: I'd much rather be alone and have peace in my home, my heart and my head than be with someone who gets in my face and says "f u" to me and it's going to take the state to come in and split us up, which is going on with someone very dear to me. It's a trade off and there is no guarantee that the person one finds is someone who is truly compatible with one--hence all of the divorces that happen.

I think it depends upon how truly open one is to it and if one really wants love and are ready to meet the rigors/expectations of relationship. It also depends upon how much one likes men/women as opposed to tolerating them in order to extract something from them.

I think knowing one's frame of mind and understanding that at our age, people aren't going to tolerate a bitter attitude helps one out in the long run because life is way too short for that mess.

There are no report or alert buttons on the profile pages--only on the email page after you have emailed them--which I do not intend to do.

They need to add that feature so that we can report the scammers if they are serious about dealing with this vermin infestation.

I second all of this.