I am very unsure of how people are able to develop relationships in this technological age of texting and e-mailing versus having a live conversation. Having just embarked into the world of online dating, I am bewildered how we are expected to meet someone and get to know them through texts and online chats. Of course, then there is the daunting task of fitting a real conversation into the mix of life. Perhaps it is because I have a busy life already that texting would appear to be the best means of communication, but I know that texting is a dangerous way to communicate with someone I do not know. The true meaning of comments can be so easily lost or misconstrued. A simple attempt at comedy or sarcasm can come across to the reader as cruel or self-serving. Attempts at flattery or a compliment can be viewed as crazy or stalkerish.
Then there is the attempt to arrange a phone call "first date". Ever had one of these? Just setting one up in my life is becoming an achievement of mythical proportion. As a single, working mom, perhaps I should have put in my profile, "Virtually never available." That would get a lot of takers. It's not that I do not have downtime, but most of that time means there is a third party present or I am scrambling from place to place to "get things done" before I have to work again. Ah, excuses...excuses. Case in point, I struck up a conversation with a man on one site who seems nice. We have attempted to establish a time for us to talk on the phone; however, I am the person who keeps having to text, "Can we try a call later?" Now I am feeling guilty for "stringing" this guy along. How crazy is that? I don't even know the guy. So, I am slowly coming to realize that these new modes of establishing a connection with someone are very foreign to some of us...okay, me. And I guess a bigger question is, "Am I ready to make the effort and time to learn this new skill?"
Then there is the attempt to arrange a phone call "first date". Ever had one of these? Just setting one up in my life is becoming an achievement of mythical proportion. As a single, working mom, perhaps I should have put in my profile, "Virtually never available." That would get a lot of takers. It's not that I do not have downtime, but most of that time means there is a third party present or I am scrambling from place to place to "get things done" before I have to work again. Ah, excuses...excuses. Case in point, I struck up a conversation with a man on one site who seems nice. We have attempted to establish a time for us to talk on the phone; however, I am the person who keeps having to text, "Can we try a call later?" Now I am feeling guilty for "stringing" this guy along. How crazy is that? I don't even know the guy. So, I am slowly coming to realize that these new modes of establishing a connection with someone are very foreign to some of us...okay, me. And I guess a bigger question is, "Am I ready to make the effort and time to learn this new skill?"
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