At this exact minute, there are people all over the country getting ready to meet people they've never met before, hoping — fingers crossed — that that person is the one .

EVAN: I was single and seeing four women regularly, but I hadn't settled on one. I was set up with a blind date. We blatantly flirted for about five phone conversations, then arranged to meet.

To begin with, she was late. Second, when I saw her I thought, "Yuck, this is going nowhere." But I had told her I would take her to dinner and dancing, so I had to go along with it.

On the 40-mile drive to dinner, I stopped at a park and suggested we walk and talk for a few minutes. When we got out of the car, she got a phone call from a "sick relative" who had to see her right away. I saved about $100 and a night with a date I'd rather not be seen with. I guess she didn't like my looks either. What a blessing that was!

I went on six blind dates in all. In five of those cases, I never called again. I felt nothing, but the women never knew it. I proceeded through the dates as we had planned and complimented them on whatever I could. (The sixth blind date led to a nice interlude for both of us.)

I'm no Brad Pitt, but I never had a problem meeting women. You just need to get out there and accept that there are people who won't like your appearance, your behavior, the way you dance, whatever. You need to accept that you may have to go through 40 to 50 people to find mutual love.

I fell in love with women who didn't love me, and I women loved me even though the feeling unfortunately could not be reciprocated. No doubt, I hurt these women. They were great people, but just not for me. And I was hurt as well.

I'm now a happily married man.

ARIELLE: Several years ago, I found myself at the end of a long-term relationship. One afternoon my officemate suggested I check out an online dating site. I created a short profile, paid a small membership fee and conducted my search.

To my dismay, only two results came up. One was someone I immediately knew I wasn't interested in, but the second looked pretty cute. I emailed him a funny note, and he replied with a hilarious response that must have taken him hours to write. We hit it off immediately and met for a drink a night or two later.

Long story short, the first person I contacted turned out to be the first Mr. Right I ever dated. We started as friends, but it progressed to a romantic relationship within a couple of months. A year and a half later we married. I was 37 at the time. He remains the love of my life.

I knew it was love... I knew it was over... Fill in the blanks and send them.

Got a problem? Send it, along with your questions and rants to [email protected]. And check out my ebook, "Dear Cheryl: Advice from Tales from the Front."