I remember years ago, sitting with friends and poring over the part of the classified ads in the old Coast Weekly that featured the "seeking" section.

Some seemed sweet and old-fashioned, people just seeking for love and hoping to find it.

Others were peppered with code words that disguised the fact that these people were older, heavier, and plagued by far less self-esteem than they let on.

And then there were the wild, raucous ones that made you wonder just who would actually submit that in writing.

They all seemed so far removed, living in that universe of black and white and with their behests coming off on our fingers as we laughed about it all.  The newspaper gave them a feeling of distance and of being removed and not real.

But then there’s the crazy people who post (some with pictures!) in the local Craigslist– which somehow makes the person feel a little more real and living– misspellings and all.

________

I’d heard of the missed connections section, through the posts in others’ blogs and through other friends, but I hadn’t really bothered to look much past the items that are romantic and sweet and make you long for those people to maybe find some happiness or for fleeting dreams to come true in a lovely manner. 

Maybe that girl sitting in the bus and reading will come across your post, guy who saw her, and she will be flattered and she will accept a date and you will both go forth and have lovely babies who believe that rock-and-roll dreams can come true.

(Squee!  Click here and read what I mean! ZOMG!!!!!! ❤ ROMANCE! <3!)

But then dear SoloMother sent me a couple of listings she ran across, and wowza.  Here.  You click on them and read on your own.  I shall post them by title:

I passed out and puked all over your truck and myself – w4m – 25

Yup.  You read that right folks… canapé?   Vienna sausage?   Want to spit your coffee and cream now?  Here goes:

Months ago..Gave me a ride when pregnant – w4m

Hmm….. nothing quite says "let’s start this relationship right" quite like this title, huh?

These are the worst ones I can find today, really– I’m not even touching the "Casual Encounters" section with a ten-foot pole (though in there there is a gentleman who would gladly lend anyone who replies HIS ten-foot pole… WITH PICTURES!)

Here is one that I found mysterious and weird:

to "the Wife" who responded to my post

Nothing better to do than to pick a fight online, huh?  And speaking of wives, what wife wouldn’t want to run into this particular gem?

U Club married guy – m4m – 47

Cheaters are pretty damn despicable, but cheaters who cheat themselves of being open with their sexuality in the nineteenth twenty-first century?  Seriously?
__________

Maybe I’m naïve.

No, wait.  I know I am. 

But I guess I’m still surprised at how some people are so comfortable with baring their souls in such a public forum– not just their opinions or their thoughts, but the parts of themselves that most people fight so hard to keep under wraps. 

Or maybe it’s all just a case of the blogger calling the Craigslister black.

10 Jan This entry was published on January 10, 2008 at 9:40 pm and is filed under DC Dukkha. Bookmark the permalink. Follow any comments here with the RSS feed for this post.