Caroline, my intern, is whip smart , level headed and absolutely beautiful. Although she is 23 and I am….more than 23, I always enjoy her insights into life from a less world weary perspective. We were chatting at lunch the other day and she had asked me if I had ever heard of something called Missed Connections. “You mean like when your flight gets in late?” I asked. She laughed and told me no, it was a new dating website. She explained that some of her friends had been talking about it and although it sounded dubious to her, she thought I might want to check it out online later that night. You know, for blog “research”. It is an interesting, albeit a little creeptastic, concept that sounds more like a Lifetime Movie waiting to be filmed than a healthy way to meet people. The website description was as follows:
“Well it’s a web site to improve the chances of you meeting your “missed connection”. If you’re wondering what a “missed connection” is, think of it as anyone you’ve ever met or just exchanged glances with and want to get in touch with but you don’t have their contact details. Some situations Missed Connections can help you with:
- You were too chicken to ask for somebody’s number
- You’re looking for a long lost friend
- Any other missed connection you can dream up
You can also use Missed Connections to post about a crush you have at work or somewhere else. If this is you, we hope you’ll find the courage to give Cupid a hand and approach the person directly but we’re happy for you to post here.” Missed Connections has the added bonus of being tied into Craigslist. Just think, the opportunity to find the “one” lies right next to shady massage ads and u-haul it junk offers 24 hours a day. Love is just a click away!
Oh. On that same page was a link to another dating site called Howaboutwe… and it lets you suggest a date idea and then a person with similar (?) interests contacts you to meet for adventure! In theory it sounds great but when I peeked at the site, I could tell this could go from fun and fresh to freaky and ill-advised pretty quickly. Example (I swear that I am not making this post up): Howaboutwe…get drunk and go on chat roulette? Howaboutwe…sober up and rethink this idea?
Yet another link was a twitter based version of Missed Connections called, snappily enough, Miss Connections! I picture a person saying this with jazz hands for some odd reason. She offers to post stolen glances and shopping carts passing in the aisles moments in hopes of potentially connecting souls. I get the lonely thing, I really do, but I just don’t know if this helps people make deeper connections that they are longing for. As great as the world wide web is, it isn’t a substitute for real live life. Twenty somethings seem to take a much more tech-savvy attitude about web based love connections than women in my age group. Maybe I am just a little wary of the unknown. For now, I am still holding out hope to meet someone the old fashioned way, face to face, not IM to tweet. Ideas that sound GREAT at 23 are filtered through enough life experience, faith and (hopefully) hard earned common sense, that in my 40s I know this is not for me. As for my Missed Connections, I think I will wait for the next flight.
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So hilarious! As a fresh out of my twenties 30 yr old (yes, I’m still clinging to them tightly) I have never heard of such…and definitely would be scared to try it out. What a funny post!
Thanks!It is a brave new world out there, isn’t it???