So many normal people are looking for romance these days, as if a fulfilling home life and a engrossing job are not enough.

It’s as if something is missing in the modern world where internet porn is standard fare for many people. Naturally, the web caters for this perceived lack of sparkle in many people’s lives.

As an example, there is an internet dating service established for the only purpose of enabling married people to commit adultery. It claims to have more than 100,000 members in the UK alone.

A reporter who tried it out gives us this example of a typical “date”.

“I arrange to meet a 41-year-old mother of two who misses “romance and flirting”, in a cafe in two days’ time. … She turns up, a blonde with lipstick on her teeth. She looks furtively around and asks me if I’m nervous. I say that if she stops twitching, I’ll calm down. There is tension in the air like North and South Korea coming together to hammer out a treaty.

“Suddenly the realization of how odd it is to meet a stranger with the express intention of having an affair dawns on me. Romeo and Juliet it is not. … But she is an old hand at this type of encounter and tells me she’s met many men through the site, and that I was probably the only one who hadn’t lied about my age. She tells me she thinks relationships have a shelf life of about ten years before boredom sets in, but that she stays married to ensure her children have a stable home.

“After discussing how mundane marriages become and avoiding questions about my personal life, it’s clear we’re past our sell-by date after ten minutes, never mind ten years. There is zero chemistry. She doesn’t want to discuss her husband, and I feel uneasy talking to her. Despite this, she still seems keen to flirt with me.

“In the end, we agree to part and she wishes me luck and assures me I’ll find the perfect paramour. So much for raging passion. This was like having a meeting with a new accountant with a helping of self-disgust thrown in. For all the glossy, sexy chat and out-of-date pictures posted online, this is the rather tawdry, mundane reality of these adulterous assignations. A pub on a wet afternoon and two people who have little to talk about except whether or not they are going to have a meaningless fling.”

Romance is most certainly isn’t