Polos and Pearls

Being a card carrying member of Generation X (or is it Generation Y?), I have a penchant for internet surfing not unlike so many others out there...

As mentioned in previous posts, I have somewhat of an addiction towards Craigslist. Okay, its more than somewhat. I love it, need it, crave it. I suspect men in white jackets will be knocking at my door any minute to cart me away to rehab a la Britney Spears (minus the shaved head).

I usually browse for whatever strikes my fancy that day. Job hunting has finally (thank god!) been replaced by apartment hunting which can be a task all in itself. When my brain starts getting too boggled, I decide to look through the more ridiculous options on there. Did you know there is an entire section devoted to carpooling? The only place I haven't ventured is into the discussion board. Discussion boards can be a volatile and emotional area for all involved, I just don't care enough to read 20 pages of people fighting over which video game is better. Sometimes for a laugh I will skim through the discussion topics. Haiku anyone? Imagine THAT's a real debate topic right there, folks.

Anyoo, back to the topic at hand. Today, I stumbled across something that truly got to me. Now brace yourselves here and please remember I am your friend and not some weird creepy internet weirdo...

I spent like 45 minutes browsing through the "missed connection" section! *gasp* *faint* *sigh*

I know, I can't believe I'm admitting to it either. I went in there out of sheer curiosity, wanted to see what it was all about and what kind of people would actually post things in there...and ya know what? it tugged at me a bit. Despite the sarcastic and cynical outlook I typically have on life, the missed connections site called out to my inner hopeless romantic.

If you've never seen this part of Craigslist, this is a section where people go in and post about a missed connection they had, so something like : "I saw you at Starbucks wearing the pink shirt and we chatted for a few minutes, I wish I had gotten the chance to ask for your number, your smile made my day". Then someone can respond via email and hopefully a connection is made.

I'm not quite sure why this intrigued me so much, but I read through a bunch of them and it was really heart warming in a way. It wasn't a bunch of people asking for one night stands and raunchy sexual innuendos, it was honest people humbly coming forward searching for opportunity. First off, I think its nice because hey, if I'm taking the time to get dressed, do my hair, put on makeup, wear a cute outfit and be generally polite in public to people, then girlfriend should be getting a shout out somewhere...also, with all the corruption and dishonesty in this world, the boys who lie, cheat and are generally just poopy, its nice to be reminded there are still decent human beings out there...

I dunno, maybe I'm just a big, mushy nerd but this whole thing just reminded me so much of a fateful, ABC family, You've Got Mail type of situation, no?

Plus....admit it, how much would you be like OMG if you found yourself on there and some guy was boasting about how beautiful you were and how you made his day?