Being up late leads young adults into the dark armpits of the internet, also known as Craigslist personal ads. For anyone unfamiliar with the Craigslist phenomenon, just head over to your local Craigslist and explore away. For the rest of you who I haven't just sent away--and don't live under a rock-- looking at Craigslist classified personal ads are one of my favorite guilty pleasures. Come on, I'm a psych major, if I can't people watch, then I have to observe people in some other way and personal ads are unbelievably entertaining.
Before I get carried away, the picture I chose for this entry is the first thing that came up on Flickr when I searched "personal ad." It's apparently just ironic that the guy is wearing a Boston Red Sox jersey because as this young woman wrote in her own blog, this is a picture of her in Tennessee noticing the guy's personal ad on his van. I guess that's how they roll in Tennessee.
In any case, personal ads are particularly amusing in the "Men seeking Women" category because it's half the guys who you avoid at the bars and half the witty guys you wish you met at the bar but are too afraid to approach you. The best ads are those that have an original method of catching attention.
For instance:
Isn't Craigslist wonderful? - 30 pic
Need a place to live? Look on craigslist!
Need a new couch? Craigslist to the rescue!
Need to make a loving, lasting connection with someone? OK, let's not get crazy here.
The entry continues and the picture is of a Brillo pad box, but the point is that this guy is trying to say to ladies, "I'm not ACTUALLY posting a personal ad, what I'm actually posting is a witty diss to all those losers who post personal ads here; and oh, by the way, if you find this witty send me an email and let's get to know each other." Cute.
Another guy takes a very entertaining approach-- he's probably the guy at the bar who is so smooth that it's cheesy and girls just want him to leave them alone:
James Lipton Versus Me - The Actors Studio - 29 pic
I jog onto the stage and wave hello to everyone, even bow a couple of times. Cue scattered applause.
ME (sitting down) - The pleasure’s all mine, Jimmy.
JL - James will do. So, let us begin with a question that desperately begs for an answer: why are you here?
This guy proceeds to write the script of a hypothetical interview between him and James Lipton with hypothetical lady reader as the implied audience. It's actually really entertaining, and had I met this guy in a bar, and he was good looking (yes, shallow, I know) and then he sent me something like this in email form, I might go out with him. However, despite his ultimate attempts at charm, it's still a personal ad.
Needless to say there is a huge range in personals as there is in the dating scene. The good, the bad and the ugly all rear their heads. At least in a bar you can see them coming and turn the other way. And despite my jabs at personal ads, not only would I have nothing to do in the middle of the night without them, but I wouldn't be able to know just from a few ads that there is far more datable material in Boston than in San Jose.
As a somewhat unrelated story, the guy at the liquor store here in San Jose was wearing a Sox hat, when I said something about it we established he's from Boston and I mentioned moving there. I asked him if the apartment I'm trying to get with the boys in Brighton on the edge of Brookline is a nice area. "Ohhh, that's yuppieville." I'll just take that as a good thing.
The guy in the liquor store is completely the type who'd have a personal ad.
Boston transplant seeks liquor loving lady - 32 - pic
Just moved to San Jose and making a living in a liquor store. You be my flask, I'll be your liquor. SWM likes good times and drunken times.
I'll let you fill in the rest.
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