Pick-up Lines and Missed Connections

I have sort of an internet routine that I like to follow when I'm bored (see previous blog post about internet). Often, I find myself perusing Craigslist in order to find some new entertainment. One of my favorite stops is the "Missed Connections" section of the site. If you haven't seen it, you're really missing out.

People write a cryptic message to someone they saw in a public place but were too afraid to talk to. Most of them start out with a date or time (i.e. Tuesday at 4 PM) and include a location (Berea Wal-Mart, Richmond Road, gas stations, dollar stores, etc.). They describe the person that they are trying to find (hot dude with black shirt driving BMW) and then the writer describes his or her own self (creepy girl with binoculars at park, for example).

Here's an actual Lexington Craigslist Missed Connection: I saw you working at the Med Center Library. You were wearing a purple shirt. Your strawberry blond hair fell beautifully on your shoulder. You had to log me onto the computer. I kept flossing. Reply if you like public dental hygiene.

I think you get the idea. So, these are cheesy (and possibly fake in some cases). But my real question is, does anyone think that this will ever work? Yes, it's tempting to think that someone is out there checking the missed connections to see if you wrote them. But really, what are the odds that someone both was interested in you and is actually checking the same website as you (albeit it that Craiglist is very popular)?

The odds of a relationship of any kind starting on Craiglist are probably about the same as the odds of getting a date by yelling "Hey baby, nice ass!" out of a car window at someone walking by. No one is swooning at these actions, and no one will probably respond to you.

Why do we do it then? Why are there a handful of these "connections" daily? If you want to talk to the redhead in the purple shirt, do it on the spot. If you are peering at your neighbor with binoculars, go introduce yourself. If you're going to post a missed connection, make sure it's entertaining and not pathetic. I need as much worthless entertainment online as I can find. If not, I'll have to move to the "free" section on the site. . .http://lexington.craigslist.org/zip/2282895273.html