Now that the subject of reforming entitlements in the name of Medicare and Social Security is being bandied about in politics and on TV, I have a suggestion for bringing to a close another type of entitlement which has plagued many internet daters for a long time. That is the sense of entitlement that many women — and men — who participate in online dating seem to have in choosing a potential partner. You see, in the real world when a guy and gal meet, it’s the initial chemistry which determines whether they experience that spark that leads to more dating and exploration. It’s generally not a “what can you do for me” mindset that drives the opening dating salvos. But with internet dating, part of the initial process in setting up a profile is to lay out and establish parameters on what you want and expect from that person who wishes to go out with you. For men, there really aren’t a lot of requirements, just that the lady is interesting and attractive to them. There is indeed some sense of physical entitlement for certain men, like at least a long deep kiss at the end of a date. This is especially true if they’ve sprung for dinner as opposed to coffee at Starbucks. But this is a more innate issue which exists even for non-internet daters. For many women online, however, there is a pre-set list of conditions that qualify as life long entitlements. If you want to date me, you have to be fairly wealthy; you have to take me on vacations around the world; you have to like to do the same things as I do; you must be able to support me; and in general you have to court me, wine and dine me, and make me laugh — a lot! There is a sense of entitlement here that dictates what she expects from a man. But then, one question I always ask myself is, what does she bring to the table? It’s very easy, especially in our culture, for a woman to have a list of expectations from a man. But the converse is usually not considered. What would a woman think if a guy online asked her if she was well off enough to take care of him, or if she could assure him she’d watch ESPN with him seven hours a day? If we did away with all entitlement programs for daters it would be an even playing field. More importantly, it would give them a chance to experience their date based solely on the synergy and kinetic chemistry that these two people have. And if we did away with dating entitlements, we’d all have more money saved to spend on ourselves when our real entitlements like Medicare and Social Security are insolvent in the future.