Dave has recently written a very entertaining post about a bad date he once had. He was inspired by Nick’s own bad date stories. I too once wrote about my own bad dates here.

Anyway, Dave’s reminds me of all the things people are sometimes willing to do for a magnetic member of the opposite sex. This seems to be the main theme of the new reality show Cupid (it was late, after Ultimate, and I had just discovered (GASP!) that my home Internet didn’t work, so yes, I wound up in front of the boob tube, without the strength to resist this new gem of pop culture).

I have to say I was highly entertained. The premise: male contestants trying to seduce a hot millionnaire chick. The format: American Idol-like auditions are being run all over the country, to find appropriate contestants. The panel: the hot millionnaire chick and her two best friends.

Not an easy thing to do if you’re one of the male contestants. But still, you’d think people would have more of a clue of what the opposite sex likes. You know how on American Idol there are tons of would-be contestants that you can’t believe have never been told they can’t sing? Same here: I couldn’t believe the approaches these guys took, completely confident they would be fool-proof.

Many of them came in without a word, took off their shirts to reveal bulging pecs, and started doing push ups or stupid kung fu moves, only to be laughed out of the room. One came in backwards, sticking his butt upwards in the women’s faces and slapping it. Not in any funny self-deprecating way, either! One of them became very agitated and slightly aggressive when one of the women wanted to see his wooden aikido sword up close: “Nobody touches the sword. It might save my life in a fight one day”.

For all our Renaissance Man and Woman talk, Homme Rose and Femme Libérée, it seems to me the two genders are still quite different. But are they so out of touch with each other, that they can’t even put themselves in the shoes of the other? I mean, had these guys ever spoken to a woman?