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"PinterestFacebookJen Schefft\nHi, guys. I&amp;#39;m en route to Paris today, so I&amp;#39;ve enlisted an old friend to blog--Jen Schefft, Andrew Firestone&amp;#39;s ex-fiancee from The Bachelor *(and the former star of, as Jen puts it, &amp;quot;My so-called public disaster known as The Bachelorette&amp;quot;). She&amp;#39;s got a book coming out in January, Better Single Than Sorry, which is about being OK with singlehood and not constantly worrying about finding The One. I figured she might have good stuff to tell you guys (and me!).*Hi, everyone. Glad to be blogging! I met Alyssa a few years back when she was a reporter for Us, and we immediately bonded over our dating horror stories. We lost touch, but I reconnected with her after hearing she was putting her love life out there for everyone to weigh in on. I know exactly how hard--and crazy!--it can be.\nAfter turning down proposals from two men (in case you weren&amp;#39;t watching, yes, two guys popped the question on The Bachelorette and I didn&amp;#39;t accept either), I had to deal with a ton of backlash. First, it was widely stated that I ruined the series forever--hardly true, seeing as how there are 27 women on this season&amp;#39;s Bachelor vying to become Prince Lorenzo Borghese&amp;#39;s real-life princess. I&amp;#39;ve watched the show and it seems completely surreal to me--I can&amp;#39;t believe anyone would go on national TV and compete for a guy. I can&amp;#39;t believe I did that.\nAfter The Bachelorette, I had to hear all these horrible things about myself. Star magazine actually labeled me a &amp;quot;spinster&amp;quot;--I didn&amp;#39;t even think anyone still used that word! People found my work e-mail address (I&amp;#39;m in public relations) and e-mailed me saying I was &amp;quot;selfish&amp;quot; and &amp;quot;evil.&amp;quot; Some sent letters to my parents&amp;#39; house telling them how I was never going to find anyone that could possibly make me happy. Once, a woman came up to me in a mall and suggested I seek professional help! I honestly couldn&amp;#39;t understand why being true to myself and not leading anyone on garnered such disgust. All these women were so angry at me for turning down these men, as if I&amp;#39;d ruined the guys&amp;#39; lives. Please. The best thing I did for them was turn them down. After these shows are over, women throw themselves at these guys--they practically become rock stars. Trust me, they were not pining over me!\nMe, I was totally depressed for a few months. In addition to the TV fiasco, at the time I was nearing 30, the age when I thought I&amp;#39;d be married, maybe having kids, all that stuff. As it turns out, I am still single. I&amp;#39;m constantly reminded of that: Random people on the street ask me about Andrew (we talk every once in a while, but we&amp;#39;ve both moved on). A lot ask if I&amp;#39;ve found love again and when I say no, they look at me sadly and tell me how sorry they are. Like my life must be over or something!\nI&amp;#39;ve got to say, I&amp;#39;m fine with being single. More than fine. I don&amp;#39;t mean that being single is better than being in a happy relationship, it&amp;#39;s just that I want to meet someone who I am absolutely, completely head-over-heels in love with, and I want him to feel the same way about me. Is that too much to ask? Bad dates really help me keep my focus. Like the guy who was nicer to his dog than he was to me (true story: when I asked him to come over on a Sunday afternoon, he looked at me in disbelief and said &amp;quot;But I gotta hang out with my dog!&amp;quot;) or some guy who stared at my chest for a good half-hour of our dinner (and I was wearing a turtleneck). I had one guy tell me even if he wanted to, he&amp;#39;d never propose to me since I&amp;#39;ve been proposed to 3 times on national TV! Obviously, not the guy for me. Which brings me back to my whole message, better single than sorry. Alyssa, I want you and every woman reading this to remember that. Write it with lipstick on your bathroom mirror if you have to.\nI obviously know where I stand, but I&amp;#39;m curious to hear your opinion: Isn&amp;#39;t it better to be alone than to be with a guy who&amp;#39;s not right for you?\nClick here to vote"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.glamour.com/story/the-bachelorette-stands-up-for>