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| Jamie Mendez and Essence Atkins |
We’ve heard it said over and over again that beauty doesn’t guarantee ease in finding love. Actress Essence Atkins of the upcoming TBS sitcom “Are We There Yet?” can attest to it.
“I was having no luck in dating,” the head-turning actress says. “So, I decided I wanted to connect to professionals outside of the entertainment industry, because apparently that wasn’t working out too well for me.”
So, despite her easiness on the eyes, finding a decent mate looked bleaked, at least until she exercised her options — technological options that is. Once she opened herself up to the prospect of cyber-dating, she was able to finally find a viable date, love and marriage all in one fell swoop. As previously reported, she’s now happily wedded to financial analyst and former NFL player Jamie Mendez as a result of such a connection.
“I had a great experience,” she gushes. “I saw my husband online. I didn’t really expect to meet my husband, but I was like, ‘OK, I need to try something over this way, because this is crazy …’ so I was kind of exercising the process of getting to know different types of people, people who weren’t necessarily creative and artistic and had that slant in their life, and it just so happened that I happened to win the jackpot … and very quickly.”
Nine months in, at least, using technology was the best relationship decision the actress has ever made. But slow your roll! Don’t go flooding the ‘Net expecting to land that mate in no time flat without considering the dangers and taking the necessary precautions to ensure your safety and the best outcome.
She advises, “First of all, never let them know where you live, never let them know where you work, neutral territory for a while, until they are fully vetted. Always communicate where you are to somebody who’s connected and looking out for you. You know, you have to be smart about it, because unfortunatetly there are people who … will take advantage of the situation and someone’s anticipation or hopes for what they wanted on the site in the first place, and they’ll be exploited.”
Electronic matchmaking, due to the aforementioned pitfalls, might not be for everyone, but as Atkins’ experience shows, a careful approach just might net a mate for life. –gerald radford
