In this digital age, when millions of folk have access to the Internet, online dating agencies are proving an increasingly popular way to meet a new partner
Many happy unions have been found through these sites – albeit folk might have had to date a few turkeys before finding Mr or Mrs Wright
For Mary Kay Beckham, however, her experience with a man she met through on;line dating agency match.com was not what she expected or was looking for in a relationship – he stabbed her 10 times with a butcher’s knife, and when the knife broke, he stomped on her head repeatedly, then left her for dead (http://tinyurl.com/axyl5v7)
Fortunately, she . . . survived the attack but is understandably upset – so much so that she is suing match.com for $10 million for not warning her of the possible dangers of hooking up with a stranger met online
For their part, match.com have expressed sympathy to Ms Beckham and wished her a speedy recovery. As to her suing them, they have given a ‘robust‘ response to Ms Beckham’s lawyer – saying, in effect . . . Piss Off !
What happened to Mary Kay Beckman is horrible but this lawsuit is absurd.
Harsh though that response may seem to some, I can’t help but agree with it
Only someone who has led a very sheltered life would be unaware of the potential risks of meeting up with someone you have known only through the internet.
There is always a risk when hooking up with a stranger – whether that be one met in a bar, through the recommendation of a friend, or on online dating agency
All one can do is use one’s best judgement, and take suitable precautions. Sometimes we get it right. Occasionally we will get it wrong. That’s life. We learn from our mistakes and move on – unless we live in the USA where folk, it seems, are unwilling to accept responsibility for what happens to them in life and instead look for someone else to blame when things go wrong – [and seek to convert a misfortune/bad judgement into an economic advantage, to boot!] 
Ms Beckham is suing match.com. What if she had met her attacker at a ‘singles’ bar or at her local Walmart store instead of online? Would she want to sue the owners of these establishments because they didn’t warn her that some of the men she met on their premises might not be the ‘gentlemen’ she initially thought them to be?
And why stop there?
Why not sue her attacker’s parents, his school teachers and religious leaders for doing such a piss poor job of teaching him what is ‘right’ and ‘wrong’, and failing to instill in him a proper respect for womankind?
Where do you draw the line once you start down this American road – egged on by greedy lawyers – of suing the pants off everyone whenever something goes wrong in your life ?
