The Invisible Man

I'd like to tell you a story. 
Have you noticed all the TV ads for dating websites lately?  They're everywhere!  I now know that 1 in 5 relationships starts online.  Whatever happened to meeting your soulmate at the supermarket or a church potluck dinner? 
I can think of three reasons for the phenomenon of online dating.  People are too busy with work these days to actively search for a significant other.  Nobody leaves their houses anymore because you can find anything and everything online.  There's a TON of money to be made in online dating subscriptions.  I have the feeling it's that last one.
I was at the gym the other day and, as I observed the other people exercising and working out, I noticed a few things.  There were quite a few very attractive women at the gym.  Now this is no surprise.  I've often seen attractive women at gyms.  As an aside, is it just me or does seeing a woman actively taking care of her health and physical condition make her even more attractive?  Who knows.
I also noticed how unnoticed I seemed to be.  It was at once comforting and unnerving.  I enjoyed being able to go about my business in peace, especially since it's been a long time since I've visited a gym and can't push the weights around as well as I used to.  But when I noticed other gym members who seemed to be strangers randomly interacting I realized I was invisible.
You know the stereotypical "eyes meet across a crowded room" romantic scenario?  That's never happened to me.  The "love at first sight" meeting at the supermarket?  Nope.  I've never even been set up on a date by friends.
So I decided to embark upon an interesting social experiment.  Well, interesting to me, at least.  And not so much scientific. 
I visited a dating website and created two profiles, both relatively accurate portrayals of the man I am with one exception -- the pictures.  My first profile featured a couple pictures of myself, and the other featured a couple pictures of an attractive male model type guy found on a department store's website.
After the first five days, the model profile was viewed more than 600 times, had received 60 email messages and 85 additional "flirt" type contacts. 
Of course!  The super attractive me is, well, super attractive.
And that was just the beginning. The super attractive me gets so much attention I have a hard time keeping up with it!
Can you guess how many times the real me has been viewed?  Two.
Granted, this was by no means a strictly scientific experiment.  But I wanted to prove a theory, and in that I succeeded.  When you're an ugly guy, you're invisible.