Internet Dating

Some people see the new age of computers as moving into the future, while others see it as a step backward. I can see both sides.
On one hand, computers speed up our work by making it more efficient and organized. But when a power outage hits or the kitten knocks the plug out of the wall while I work, I wonder why we just don’t use a pencil and paper. However, as I scribble this down and scratch things out, a computer’s Word document looks awfully good.
I’ve seen both sides.
Allow me to elaborate. Computer privileges can be abused. Pornography can appear on an unsuspecting soul’s screen. I’ve seen people click on a celebrity’s web site only to be shocked by graphic images of nude women. Not only is it there faster than a speeding bullet, it can not easily be shut off. Once, a co-worker of mine had to kill the power to her machine to stop it. Was a request to search for Melissa Joan Hart too much to ask?
Here’s the positive part of my story. Although a computer can sometimes be harmful to human relationships, and some even say Internet chatting causes families to split, there is a flip side. Sometimes people learn by trial and error how to use a computer and end up with a computer job, and also meet their soulmate via cyberspace.
I’m one of those people.
I was home working last year and I checked my e-mail. Two weeks before, I had put a personal profile on a web site which listed my likes and dislikes, hobbies, favorite music and movies, church preference and so on. I got a response from a man and we met at a restaurant for dinner. We were polite, but bored silly. We parted ways and never spoke again.
The following week, I received an e-mail from a curious Kansas City man telling me that he read in my info that I was within 60 miles of him in Omaha, Nebraska. He wrote, “Now, I am originally from that area, and the last time I checked, the distance between Kansas City and Omaha was more than 60 miles…. lol” (Translation: laugh out loud.) I lived in St. Joseph, Missouri, by the way.
I checked his profile, which was included in the e-mail, (not his personal e-mail—the web site is the mediator so one doesn’t use a personal one, for obvious safety reasons). I wrote back as I did one or two others, telling him a date of mine must not smoke or drink, and would go to church with me. Typically, they didn’t write back after that.
This man, however, wrote back. I wrote back. He wrote back. We had many intelligent conversations via e-mail for a few days, then decided to meet. I asked to meet at a restaurant (a girl can’t be too careful meeting a stranger.)
We met at a Mexican place. He arrived and apologized for being late (what, one minute?) because he had to stop and buy me a single red rose. OK, forgiven. I had gone to a tanning bed on the way to the restaurant, and as we talked and ate, I began to itch in all the wrong places. From there, we went to play miniature golf. After a quick round, I thanked him and we agreed to meet online an hour later.
I couldn’t wait -— not only to get home and relieve my itching ‘sunburn’, but also to chat with this man again.
I went home and soaked my itching self in the tub as I waited for the hour it took him to drive home to Kansas City. Finally, we began to chat. He asked me what I liked in a man. Physically, I told him, I liked dark hair and a clean-shaven face; in general, intelligence and wit. This man had blond hair, blue eyes, and a goatee, and the intelligence and wit.
We chatted until after midnight about my love of gardening and lots of other things, agreed to meet in a couple of days, and retired for the night.
We met again a few days later at the same place. This time, he gave me a potted flower (not a cut flower that would wilt in a week) and -— he had a clean-shaven face. I knew right then, he was something. He’s a keeper. We married within six months, and have seven children between us, thanks to a computer.
Be careful what you wish for, you just might get it.