When online dating goes very very wrong

How long would you be willing to wait for a date to arrive?

The online dating world is scary and full of pitfalls. With trends such as catfishing and identity fraud rife in cyberspace, it can be really tricky knowing who to trust and who to toss. Admittedly, the quest for love on the web has had a makeover in recent years. With the help of dating websites and apps such as Tinder, people are less worried about introducing a significant other to friends and proclaiming ‘we met online’. That is of course, if you’re actually lucky enough to meet the person you’ve been digitally courting. This lad, Alexander Pieter Cirk, made the headlines when he spent so long waiting for his online girlfriend to collect him at the airport that he ended up suffering exhaustion and leaving the airport in an ambulance. (images courtesy of CCTV news on Facebook) According to CCTV news, Alexander, 41, flew 4,500 kilometres to China, to see Zhang 26, only two months after meeting online. The Dutchman obviously had a lot of faith in his missus considering he waited 10 whole days in arrivals at the airport. When local media outlets contacted his Zhang she told them that she thought he was joking about visiting her. “We had advanced our romantic relationship but later he seemed a little callous towards me…One day he sent me a photo of air tickets abruptly, and I thought it was a joke. He didn’t contact me later.” She also said that her phone was off and she never received Cirk’s texts because she was undergoing plastic surgery in a different Chinese city. I don’t know about you, but we think this story absolutely stinks. I mean, to wait for a person that you’ve never met for 10 days and in the process do serious physical damage to your health is just plain bonkers. You have to give the man props for being so determined but wonder why he didn’t have just a smidge more cop on. Cirk has since returned to The Netherlands after being discharged on Monday and the love story has, surprisingly, not ended here. Apparently Zhang has plans to visit her beau once she’s recovered. Mmmhmm, we just hope Cirk doesn't hold  his breath.