Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Online dating adventure, day 4: Fun

Okay, after a day of strange, unprecedented anxiety, I'm starting to have a bit of fun with this.

I mean, laugh out loud by myself whilst surrounded by people at the coffee shop fun.

Some of these guys, I tell you.

Some of their messages are really thoughtful and specific. Some of them are so generic I can't help but wonder if they actually read my profile. Some of them are witty. Some of them are playful (one guy asked me, in fun, what I thought of the Oxford Comma).

Some of them are off-the-wall. Take, for instance, the message entitled, "Purple Monkey Dishwasher." It was an...eye-grabber. Got to give him that. Some of them are fascinating. For example, one man sent me a clip from a reality t.v. show he recently was on. In the clip some sort of professional something or other diagnosed him as a charming narcissist whom girls should avoid dating at all costs. I still haven't figured out what he wanted me to do with that information...?

A lot of the messages seem to follow a similar "template," making me wonder if there is some sort of online dating messaging etiquette.

And then I got this message from a young man and realized — bingo!—there is unspoken messaging etiquette:

"Generic overexcited greeting! Obvious reference to profile information, with or without drawing a comparison between what we put on our profiles. Rhetorical question? Rhetorical answer! Unnecessary semi-forced semi-witty remark. Laughing onomatopoeia! Humble request for further communication?"

And then I laughed out loud. And then I remembered I was by myself in a public place. Which made me laugh out loud again.

See, this is sort of fun!


© by scj

8 comments:

  1. Okay--that is awesome. I must admit, I might have been intrigued enough to reply to the quoted email. :-) Have fun with this!

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  2. Thanks, Sharalyn. :) It was one of the better emails I've gotten, that's for sure!

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  3. I'm so excited for you! This type of amusement was my same experience. In fact, before I hit the "subscribe" button to pay for a membership, I remember thinking, "I will most likely come across nothing that is worth it on here, but I'm 100% sure that the entertainment provided through these profiles and messages will be TOTALLY worth whatever it costs per month." I can't say enough good things about this option (and other options ;) ) Excited to hear about more of your adventure! -Sarah Lovermore ;)

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    1. Hahaha! It continues to give me some deep belly laughs, that's for sure. You are right, the entertainment value of this experience thus far has exceeded my expectations. Great fun. :)

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  4. Oh and I read your comment about God surprising us: Absolutely. My experience was/is that God absolutely gives us more than we can dream up and he loves us in the details. This will be true of your spouse too, whether you meet him online or in person. So excited!

    -Sarah

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    1. Thank you, Sarah. I imagine surprising us with off-the-hook gifts gives God great delight. The thought makes me smile. :)

      -SJ

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