Timeless Tips for Dating at Any Age

Fifth-Grader and 82-Year-Old Relationship Authors Relay Their Knowledge of the Game of Love

(CBS)  Alec Greven is 10 years old and in the 5th grade. Howard Eisenberg is 82 years old and in love with a woman named Shirley. On the surface, they couldn't be more different, but when it comes to the subject of dating - be it on the playground or at the senior center - these two agree that dating never gets any easier.

Both Greven and Eisenberg have parlayed their experience/inexperience with the opposite sex into books: Alec is the author of "How to Talk to Girls" and Howard the co-author of "It's Never Too Late to Date: Shirley and Howard's Rx's For Dating and Mating After 50" by Shirley Friedenthal and Eisenberg.

On "The Early Show" Wednesday, co-anchors Maggie Rodriguez and Harry Smith posed some timeless questions about dating for the two relationship authors:

Are first impressions everything?

Greven, who isn't a big dater, said first impressions are important, but it still might not work out even if the first meeting goes well.

Eisenberg agreed first impressions are important, because you'll never have a second chance to make one. He gave the example of a man who took out a woman on a first date and ordered two cups of tea. After the couple drank the tea, he said, the man suggested they split the check.

"It was a very bad first impression," Eisenberg said.

Smith asked Greven where you should go to meet girls.

"You don't really, like, meet girls at my age," he said. "It's kind of like you just talk about it."

Greven added the best place to approach girls is at the playground.

He said, "That's where a lot of, like, most of the girls kind of hang out."

As for the over 50 crowd, it's the women who are doing the chasing, according to Eisenberg.

Eisenberg said a woman joined a boating club after she had six men tell her the difference between port and starboard. One man proposed, he said, and she became his first mate.

"Go where the guys are," Eisenberg recommended.

And does rejection change from 5th grade to retirement?

Not really, according to the authors.

"You just go home and cry," Eisenberg said.

However, both agreed, you have to move on after you're rejected.

Eisenberg said, "The truth is that rejection is only something that is a temporary thing that you quickly forget. We tell women to...mentally push (men who dump them) off a cliff, and move on to the next one."

Greven agreed.

"You kind of have to take it tough and everything," he said. "But I say, life is hard and move on. It's good because it works with pretty much everything."

And when should you use the "l" word - love - in a relationship?

Eisenberg joked you shouldn't lie if a woman asks, "Do you love me?" but you could say you have a phone call to answer.

"It's so hard to answer that question without lying, in some cases," he said.

As for some fifth-grader insight, Greven recommended waiting "until you know each other really, really, really well."

"It could be very dangerous," he said. "You could immediately be dumped - or it could work out perfectly."

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To read an excerpt of Eisenberg's book, click here.

To read an excerpt of Greven's book, click here.