*Warning - sensitive and disturbing content is in this post* 

I am as single as they come right now.

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No suitors, no flirtations, no hanky or panky; not even a hookup buddy in sight!

As a result, a lot of people have suggested to me that I should "sign up for one of the trillions of dating apps?"

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Here's why dating apps and online dating in general freak me out.

This whole Jeffrey Dahmer documentary on Netflix has served as a sobering reminder that just because dating apps are there, it doesn't mean I need to use them.

It is scary to me that someone could be wired so wrong and yet, not be caught for over a decade.

I know what you are thinking, "he didn't lure in his victims online?"

After you meet someone online, what usually happens? You go to a nearby bar or restaurant to meet face-to-face to see if there is an actual connection.

Guess where Jeffrey lured in his victims? That's right, the bar.

Online dating just now ensures that people, like Jeffrey, will have someone at the bar specifically waiting for them.

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Jeffrey was able to hide his true intentions from dozens of victims. To me, relying on my senses when all I get are a few texts seems risky.

Part of this also is related to the fact that I have already had a bad experience with online dating.

"Hey."

"Hey."

"What's up?"

"Not too much. Just got home from work. U?'

You would never know that this exact online exchange almost ended in me needing to file a restraining order years ago.

People like this, the one in my encounter, someone like Dahmer, are really good at concealing their true personalities.  They are also really good at concealing their horrific intentions.

Online dating just makes it that much easier for that secret identity to be hidden just long enough until it is too late.

Jeffrey Dahmer ate the hearts of his victims.  This isn't a metaphor.  This was the physical act he performed.

Am I being overly-cautious? Yes.

But I would rather be over-cautious rather than regret these types of situations.

If online dating is for you, by all means: swipe, like, super like away.

But Jeffrey Dahmer was clearly wired wrong and others out there could be too.

Just be safe.

Because Jeffrey Dahmer is not the only killer out there:

The most heinous New Jersey murders that shook our communities

LOOK: See how much gasoline cost the year you started driving

To find out more about how has the price of gas changed throughout the years, Stacker ran the numbers on the cost of a gallon of gasoline for each of the last 84 years. Using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (released in April 2020), we analyzed the average price for a gallon of unleaded regular gasoline from 1976 to 2020 along with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for unleaded regular gasoline from 1937 to 1976, including the absolute and inflation-adjusted prices for each year.

Read on to explore the cost of gas over time and rediscover just how much a gallon was when you first started driving.

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