"I was mad--madly in love with a girl whom I did not know and might never find, but I knew what I was going to do first thing in the morning. I was going to phone Maxwell House and find out who made that commercial for them."

--Actor Michael Caine, describing how he fell in love with his wife on first sight when he spotted her in a TV commercial.

Does love at first sight really exist? A good friend of mine (let's call her Samantha) wants to know; she's being ardently pursued by a handsome PhD she met at a singles' event last month.

The guy calls her every day, sends roses, and has taken her to lunch at The Columbia University Club in Manhattan. She was having the time of her life until he freaked her out by uttering those three little words, "I love you."

"How can you love me?" she demanded of him. "You don't even know me."

"But I do know you. I've loved you from the moment I set eyes on you, " he answered.

Samantha really likes this guy and thinks she could love him, but she's scared. Love at first sight? Not so fast! One of Samantha's other friends warns her to keep her guard up. The guy sounds obsessed, she says. He could take Samantha to his apartment and hack her up with an ax.

And I agree. The guy might be a psycho. But, then again, he might not.

I do believe that love at first sight exists, having witnessed my cousin marry a man two months after she met him. Nineteen years later, they remain well-matched. They're also enviably prosperous and the parents of four children.

Granted, my cousin had just marked her 32nd birthday when she met her husband. Years of dating duds and nice-guys-who-didn't-cut-it prepared her to recognize the man of her dreams when he presented himself. She knew what she wanted.

When sorting true love from supermarket romance, it helps to have plenty of experience with the opposite sex. To succeed at love, you must know what you want in a man and in a relationship.