It's tough to be alone out there. We yearn to be loved (or have messy hook-ups), we long to be understood (or get laid with next to no effort), we strive to find meaningful relationships with other people (or meaningless sex like life is some independent movie from the 90's). All of these feelings and more can be found in the craigslist Missed Connections, the page that is simultaneously the most genuine and the most ineffective in the entire site. The mere existence of MC hints at the silly idealism of craigslist itself. Like everything else on the List, MC comes from the misguided belief that it will actually work, that people are willing to be honest and articulate on the Internet and that apparently the Internet is magic. How else could anyone hope to get the attention of a stranger with an anonymous post on a website many people never visit? But still, people try, even when they probably shouldn't.
I see you walking - m4w
I see you walking almost everyday. I often wonder where you may be going, probably to the gym I imagine. Anyway, I'd love to give you a ride one of these days. If you read this, let me know where you usually walk, and I'll tell you which car I am. I'll pull over and give you a ride anytime.
Oh, boy. So many things wrong here. I do often wonder whether people who post to MC are aware of how they sound. Let's deconstruct this guy, shall we? He's a man who fixates on a particular woman he stares at behind his car window, developing such an obsession that he has started to construct a fictional life for her. He imagines that it's romantic rather than creepy to offer a ride to a stranger who seems perfectly content on the sidewalk based entirely on a physical attraction to that person. This post may come from the genuine heartache of living in a society where we're all separated, literally and figuratively, by personal spaces we don't really want, but it comes off like the early diaries of a stalker.
driving on hwy 99
I was stopped at light and saw you and all i can say is wow you driving grey dodge 4x4 lifted. I
was in a exployer and you just got off work and said something about it and i said going somewhere
what did i say so i know it is you if you respond back.
Your missed connection probably sped away from you because your interaction consisted of you hanging out the window of your truck breathlessly spouting a stream of consciousness without pause or inflection.
Green shirt at safeway - m4w
Mmm hmm! I was walking out as you walked in, I caught you starting at me ;) remember me?
Another common fantasy that is ridiculous upon further contemplation. There's a sort of cliche about people having meet-cute experiences in the grocery store, but I don't really believe it. People aren't exactly in suave, sexy mode when they're in the supermarket. It's really hard to feel socially open when you're on a mission to buy toilet paper, Cap'n Crunch and maybe give into your buyer's impulse around the Pop Tarts.
Beautiful blonde smoking at Costco Gas - m4w - 38
You were smoking at the Costco Gas in Covington. I wanted to talk to you but then you left with
someone else...Will you like to come with me next time? Will you like to be my friend? Thank you.
One: She has a boyfriend and is thus unlikely to browse the most lonely, lovelorn place on the Internet. Two: The only thing creepier than the prospect of running off with some guy in a gas station is running off with some guy who uses disturbingly juvenile phrases like "Will you like to be my friend?". Three: She struck a lighter amongst dripping spouts of accelerant that quickly evaporates into flammable fumes. You're not missing much.
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