Age is just a number

If age is just a number, then why do people feel the need to lie about it on their internet dating site profile? I just don't get it!

In a perfect world, when two people meet, they have time to get to know each other before deciding if they want to enter into a relationship. In the internet dating world, the decision to contact someone is based on a number of factors, age being one of them.

So what possesses a woman of 35 to claim that she's "only" 29, and what propels a man of 50 to dial back the numbers to 42? Is it simple vanity, or are they just plain scared of the actual dates on their driver's licenses?

The thing with lying about how old you are is that sooner or later it's going to come back and bite you in the butt, big time. And it has consequences that go far beyond your age. If you're willing to lie about your age, what else will you, or have you, lied about? You can bet that once your partner finds out the truth about how old you really are that he or she will question every single aspect of your relationship. Any trust that they may have had will likely be gone.

I make no bones about the fact that I turned 50 earlier this year. It's just not that big a deal to me. There are far more important things for me to fret about, and my age just isn't one of them.