A few hours ago, I posted the following on Twitter:
Don’t care about Lent, but can appreciate shaking up your status quo. Think I’ll give up cyber-prowling for a week.
You’re about to gain some insight into how long I can usually stick to self-imposed abstention. (Hint, it’s measured in minutes)
In much the same way no one quits smoking in the middle of a pack, I decided to take one last lap around my favorite dating/prowling websites, and boy do I wish I hadn’t. (I am well aware that wishing I hadn’t is proof I was on to something with my little experiment in self-control.)
A few days ago, I had a nice chat with a woman from datingSite.com, and after hitting it off, she asked me out. (I know, right?) We have loose plans for Sunday. She told me her name (first only), and being the curious (and technically inclined) sort, I plugged it into Facebook along with her city to see what I could see. Most of the time, the needle stays lost in the haystack (and probably for the best). Her name isn’t uncommon — especially, I’d guess, in this geographical region — so I didn’t expect to find much. Besides, who can see anything in those Facebook thumbnails? Well, I’ll tell you what you can see — redheads — they show up just fine. Not only that, but Facebook saw fit to put her in the top three or four results.
The next thing you know I’ve got a last name, and with a first name and a last name a person could Google, so Google a person did.
She’s got quite a story, it turns out, and a lot of it is online. I don’t want to divulge enough detail here that her identity is compromised (ironic, no?), but here’s the short of it: She’s got [genetically caused disease], and has had two [major organ] transplants. She’s written a book and has a blog about it, etc. Very inspirational and whatnot. Important detail: her dating profile does not mention this.
Two questions for you all:
- How creepy am I?
- When the topic comes up as inevitably, it must. Do I pretend it’s news? (I am terrible at this and will fail) Do I confess? Preemptively?
Shit.