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So you're single, totally unattached, and you've decided it's time to meet someone new. Well, you should be happy to know this is the best time of the year to try.
When I say "best time," I mean immediately -- this instant! This is not the time to procrastinate.
Stop reading this column, log onto the Internet and register for an online dating service, or pick up the phone and call a match making service, or get dressed and force yourself to attend a single's dance or even a speed-dating event at a local pub.
If you have ever considered trying one of these "proactive" measures, do it right now. After all, everyone else is. I won't mind if you crumble up this newspaper, drop it into the trash, and with motivational "Rocky" music blaring in your head, you lurch into a whirlwind of action. ...
Still reading? OK, but finish this article quickly and get moving.
In the 23 years I ran a dating service, the first week of January was almost always the busiest time of year, when the most people joined, and we therefore had the largest pool of available singles for new members to meet.
That is, unless there was a blizzard that week, in which case the second week of January would be the busiest week of the year, unless there was a blizzard that week, in which case. "¦ I am sure you get the picture. (A few years ago, it snowed every week in January, which drove me to pull out what remained of my hair.)
With the Internet though, I guess the weather has very little negative impact. If a single person is snowed in and "cabin fever" hits, he or she will undoubtedly feel more inclined to log on and begin the process of trying to "pair up," so to speak.
And why is the first week of January so busy? Obviously, the main answer is New Year's resolutions. For a single man or woman, the three most common resolutions are to stop smoking, to lose weight, and to start a new relationship.
As regular readers of this column know, the most important of those resolutions to improve one's chances of meeting someone is the first one, to quit smoking. Sure, if you are obese, it's helpful (also for health reasons) to lose weight, but nothing improves one's marketability in the dating world more than to quit smoking.
As for starting a new relationship, I wish I had the proverbial nickel for every time I heard someone say, "This past holiday season was the last one I'm going to spend drinking eggnog alone with my Aunt Aggie." (Of course even if you do find a long-term meaningful relationship in 2007, your Aunt Aggie will still expect you to stop over next holiday season -- as will your new beau's Aunt Gertrude -- but those types of complications are the subject of another column.)
Another reason January is such a busy month for singles' organizations and businesses is that few people try and meet someone during the holidays. It's just too hectic, and for some people, too depressing. It's far easier to tell oneself, "after the holidays, I am going to make a real effort to start a new relationship."
From a business point of view, that last statement is verified by the fact that the "slowest" time of year at any singles organization is the period between Thanksgiving and New Year's. While most retail businesses are booming during that five week shopping period, singles businesses rarely see new people joining -- until the week after New Year's -- this week.
As for Valentine's Day, many singles will do everything possible to meet someone in January so they will have someone to buy flowers for Feb. 14 (other than Aunt Aggie). But once February hits, most singles decide it's "too late" to try and meet someone, so they wait until Feb. 15 to begin the relationship search once again.
Interestingly, that cycle is repeated throughout the year to a slightly lesser extent for other holidays. That is, few people join a dating service just before the Fourth of July, but on July 5, the phones ring off the hook with people saying, "This was the last time I'm ever going to watch fireworks with my Aunt Aggie."
And, on a weekly basis, if one thinks of the weekend as a mini-holiday, every Friday is relatively slow, as people are hopeful they will meet someone over the weekend, and when they don't, then Mondays become the busiest day of the week. First thing every Monday morning, singles flood the phone lines saying, "This was the last Saturday night I'm ever going to spend watching a DVD alone with my Aunt Aggie."
Finally, another reason January is such a busy month for singles organizations is that many dysfunctional couples don't want to break up during the holidays. So they wait until January, pick a fight with one another, and then immediately begin the search to find a new relationship.
OK, I know, today is Friday. To be honest, the absolute 100 percent best time for you to contact a dating service was three days ago, Jan. 2. But since my column is only published on Fridays, there was nothing I could do to alert you.
So I guess you'll have to spend this weekend with Aunt Aggie. But maybe she has a friend.
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