“Jeez, Casey, these are horrible.” Sam was sifting through a glossy pile of photos that Casey has dumped onto the kitchen table. In all of the photos, there was something not quite right. The angle was off in this photo, the lighting was too dim in that one, Casey’s arm was locked in an unnatural position in another, and so on.


Deciding to give the photos a second chance, Sam backed up and compared the pictures against the appearance of Casey standing in front of him. He titled the photo a bit this way and then a bit that way.

LookBetterOnline.com gives you a choice of two photo colors and you went with all the black and white? Why? And, Casey, can you smile for me?,” Same asked his little brother.

Casey smiled. It was a nice smile, one that lit up his whole face and made his cheeks beam. It was a smile that revealed healthy rows of teeth and dimples in both cheeks. Seeing his brother smile brought back memories to Sam. As youngsters one Halloween, that smile had been the linchpin in persuading old Widow DellaVecchia to give them all the candy that she had in the bowl. Other times later in life, that smile had gotten them out of a quite a few speeding tickets.

Unfortunately, this was not the smile that was permanently captured in the photographs.

“I gotta tell you, bro. I didn’t exactly go with LookBetterOnline.com, which is probably the reason that these pictures look so hideous. How can I put these up on any dating sites!? Doesn’t look like me, does it?,” Casey asked his brother.

“Well…,” Sam was reluctant to say.

“It’s okay. I’ve got eyes, too. The photo makes me look like Count Dracula, not Casey Dracoli!,” Casey said, bringing laughter to both they guys. “What makes me mad is that one of my friends, well, I guess I should say this guy who I know, he suggested that I go to a friend of a friend of his, who would do the shoot for real cheap.”

Sam stared at his brother. “This sounds fishy already, Casey. I thought that you were going to use LookBetterOnline.com like I told you to. Hmmm, I have a feeling that I’ll be able to call you my not-so-smart younger brother by the end of this story.”

“Yeah, I tell me about it. So, I agreed to meet this guy for a shoot since I wanted to put my picture up on a few dating websites. The thing is, I had to drive all the way out to Waterville, which was over an hour one way with all the traffic.

“When LookBetterOnline’s photographers would have given you the choice of where you wanted to meet. They could have even done the shoot in our apartment!,” said Sam, putting in his “two cents.”

“I know, Sam,” said Casey. So, anyway, I get to the place and the photographer is just unprepared and the whole thing just had a sketchy and unprofessional feeling about it. I think that made me not able to relax in the photos, which certainly didn’t help.”

By now, Sam was shaking his head disapprovingly. “It’s natural to be nervous getting your picture taken, especially in your case where you’re thinking of all the beautiful ladies on the dating website. If you had gone with LookBetterOnline.com, then you’d have been reassured by their satisfaction guarantee. But, no, you decided to be cheap, and you got what you paid for.”

“You’re the best, Sam,” Casey mockingly said. “Thanks for rubbing it in. Still, I think that the worst part is that unlike LookBetterOnline, this guy doesn’t offer any touch-ups to the photographs, and he certainly doesn’t offer the free Internet dating guidebook or live dating coaches that the website has. I just don’t know what I was thinking.”

This time both brothers were in agreement. “Me neither,” said Sam.

“Man, I should have just gone to LookBetterOnline.com in the first place. So, I’ll schedule a shoot with them tomorrow morning. Hmphf! They do pretty much everything except write a dating profile for you!,” said Casey.

“ummm, Casey, I’m sorry to have to tell you this but-,” began Sam.

Casey wouldn’t let him finish, though. “I think that I know already; they can write your dating profile for you, too, right?”

“Ah, yes. So, what lesson have we learned here today, little brother?,” Sam asked.

“The smart thing to do is to go with LookBetterOnline.com,” Casey responded.

But, Sam couldn’t resist adding, “And to always listen to your big brother!”