Hail, Hail, The Gang's All Here!

Back at the Caribou today, writing my final papers for the semester. Not surprised to see the regulars, as well. Yes, Skype-guy is here and today "Mr. I Work From the Coffee Shop and Have to Tell Everyone About It" is here today, as well. No German couple, and no veterinary friend :( While I sit and ponder readings about FGM, FGS, veiling, feminist nationalism, and global health issues that concern women, I am distracted by my recent irritating experiences in dating.
After two recent conversations with female colleagues and friends, I have come to the conclusion that the only way men are ever successful at dating is because women keep compromising themselves. Considering the fact that my colleagues are Women's Studies scholars and graduate students who write about women's issues, I thought that I would find solace in their words of wisdom regarding the topic. Unfortunately, some are as frustrated as I am, while others appear to be making excuses for men's behavior....still.
Point in case.....I have a date with a man (fix up orchestrated by a colleague) and the date goes very well. We both give positive feedback to our friend and I expect a timely response to my "follow up" email. Granted, he is traveling to a conference for the weekend and we are both in grad school doing classwork and preparing for finals, but I don't think an email is too much to ask, a text even? 5 days pass, and I finally receive an email that provides the obligatory apology for taking so long to get back to me and then procedes to itemize all of the things that he has on his plate right now - as if I don't have just as much going on! I respond, telling him I understand his busy schedule and enumerating my own "busy schedule" at this time of year. I am heading to NYC for the weekend and suggest making plans for the following week, as something definite is easy to plan my "work" schedule around, rather than leaving it up to the "let's see where the week takes us" perspective. I get no response. None. Meanwhile, I hear from my colleague that he keeps talking about getting back to me, but fails to ever do so. (Another pertinent piece of information here is that this man has also complained to my friend that he does a follow up email and fails to get a response from women and it irritates him). She is irked also, but cannot really say anything to him, and I understand that. After a follow up text wishing him a good week, and his "yeh, things are crazy" I have refused any more contact. Yesterday, I ran into him in my friend's office as we were headed to our final exam. I did acknowledge him and said hi when I walked in, but he had earphones on, listening to who knows what. His behavior was bizarre, if not outright assuming. He took off his earphones and acted as if he would naturally be included in our conversation, which we both were perplexed about. I will laugh if this incident propels him towards a 2-week later response, and I will not respond when and if it comes. Call me "bitchy" or difficult, but I am tired of the waiting game. If you're interested you should respond in a timely fashion. If you're not, then don't respond at all and leave me alone.
My second beef at this stage in the game is the man in the on-line dating circuit who feels the need to send nasty emails to women that have not "viewed" him nor contacted him in any manner. I'm tired of emails that tell me that men don't like strong women. I'm tired of emails that tell me I'm uptight. I'm tired of emails that assume things about me that someone could not and would not know if I've never even had contact with them. My most recent unwanted email came through a Christian dating site where I can now only assume the "traditional male" lay in wait for the woman who is going to fulfill all of his needs and desires and be at his beck and call. My profile expresses a desire for a man who can hold his own in an intellectual converastion and a man who has strong beliefs and is going to stand behind those beliefs "no mealy-mouthed man for me" is my follow up phrasing. I get an email that says simply, "Behind every mealy-mouthed man is a domineering woman. Just an observation." What kind of email is that to send to someone that has had no contact with you? What gives you the right to even send that email? What gives you the right to judge me via 3 photos and 7 short answer questions? Because the site would not let me use the word "asshole" in my response, I had to tone it down and simply call him a "jerk." It is at this point that I have decided that once the memberships are up, I am done with the online crap. While I have had some luck in the past, it is proving to be a feeding ground for men who feel the need to take their own anger and inadequacy out on women that they don't even know.