You are soooo correct!! Many of your words resonated with me, a long-time Singleton around your age (except us girls could wear pants to school where I attended grade school).

I love the observation about what sucks about dating (at any age, really, not just for us Middle-agers) nowadays: that people are disposable and seen as “prospects" (usually for a “situationship" if even that). Online dating objectifies us, making people less “human" somehow, which is partly why I abhor it and gave it up years ago.

Adopting a kinder mindset as you suggest is definitely a good way to go about the dating world. I further suggest that people throw away prejudices and preconceived notions and expand their potential dating pool. If nothing else, we all could certainly need more good friends in our lives!!