Adventures in CL dating: How it all began

When I moved to D.C. in February, I had but one major ambition: to get a job. I found some temp work immediately, thanks to the string-pulling of a college pal. Soon thereafter, I turned to various sites and began looking for a position to serve as the start of my career. It didn’t take long for craigslist to stand out from monster.com, dcjobs.com, and all the other sites I was cruising daily as the files stacked higher on (and around) my desk. Ultimately, I found a position that was perfect for me and a hiring manager who thought I was perfect for the job, thanks, in great part, to the wonderfulness that is CL.

Later, I used CL’s free stuff section to offload some bulky unused furniture and an abused outdoor umbrella my roommate had been too lethargic to get rid of himself. And, after that, a friend and I used the site to find a new apartment together.

I can’t deny I’d killed a good deal of down time at work cruising through the missed connections section, or, sometimes (usually by way of Wonkette) through the personals. But the Monday afternoon I found myself reading through post after post in the men seeking women, women seeking men, and women seeking women sections (I’d been warned to steer clear of men seeking men while at work, or I’d’ve likely gone there, too), I had what I would later come to describe as a temporary lapse in sanity: I decided I’d post an ad.

Thinking myself high above all those "shallow" posters who require a certain height, weight, ranking on the scale of attractiveness, level of education, and income, I attempted to be witty and leave my options open. The ad read:

Care to prove me wrong? -- 24, Dupont

I find myself here looking for a man, which is problematic since I’ve come to believe men are just as much mythical creatures as unicorns and sincere politicians. However, I’ve decided to see if my wonderful, reliable DC craigslist is as wonderful and reliable in the personal department as it is in the jobs and free stuff departments.

So, in the grand tradition of the craigslist litany of requirements, here goes:

If you are:

- a straight male,
- between the ages of 23(ish) and 33(ish),
- a great conversationalist [who is just as content discussing today’s headlines as you are participating in long (discussion-form) tirades (about anything and everything) that push you to the edge of your imagination],
- intelligent,
- honest,
- tolerant of those unlike yourself, and
- in search of good company,

give me a shout.

I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I didn’t know what to expect, and I didn’t really consider what would follow the posting.

In the next half hour, I got no responses. Then a few trickled in, most of which said something to the effect of, "If you don’t give your physical stats, everyone just thinks you’re fat, ugly and desperate like the rest of the women on CL." Great. Something I hadn’t noticed before but that suddenly resembled hope deflated in me, and I decided I loved CL even more for allowing me to dive into Internet dating anonymously and without expense. If you’re going to get rejected by scores of guys on the Internet, it’s best no one has to know and you didn’t waste money on it, right?

But by the time I got home from work that night, my inbox had about a dozen responses aside from the thoughtful informers mentioned before. I began responding to the first few e-mails and chatting with a couple of the guys who included their IM. By the end of the night, the number of messages had more than doubled and I had a date scheduled for Wednesday.

I went to bed excited. My last "real" date was a nearly-disintegrated memory, and I thought going out with Neil* would be interesting.


* Names have been changed -- for the innocents and the slimeballs alike -- because, hell, I’d want my name changed if someone were putting me in a blog. (And who’s to say any of those were their real names anyway?)