mysql : store as data or varchar?

[newbieewwa]

I have a few database table which contains the date colomn , I want to store mysql date(0000-00-00) and also string like "Present" into the date colomn , but if I choose date as the data type, I can't put anything than date into the data colomn (like string "Present"). Should I use "Varchar" instead of "date" to store date information?

I heard when you do a query towards the Date colomn,say "get all the entries which is 1990-09-09", the colomns use varchar will be significant slower that the colomns use date. Is that true?

What is the solution? Thanks a lot in advance!

[nemonoman]

If you are using MySQL date data should always be stored as the MySQL date type. Date types provide lots and lots of ease in searching and sorting that a varchar kludge will never provide.