Q: My online dates all lie about their age. Should I? –Hal
A: Dear Hal,
This is a tricky one, and I’ve heard a lot of ideas about it. One theory holds that you might as well come clean from the get-go and meet the people who can accept the truth. But sometimes people lie about their age online simply to be given a chance to have a face-to-face meeting with someone who might not give them the chance if they didn’t. If a woman says she’s interested in men from 25 to 35, and a 38-year-old man wants to meet her, he may figure he’s pretty close to her cut-off point, and lie simply to get a shot at a first date. (Having been around for as long as I have, one softens ones feelings about both the importance of age and the ethics of lying about it to strangers.) It’s a wild and lawless land out there, so I say, do what feels right to you. One caution: If you say you’re 35 and you’re really 48, ain’t no way you will get away with it, however fit and lovely you are. Stay within the ballpark!