WHY? JUST....WHY?
Thanks Sweetie for your thoughts. To answer a few of your questions...

*I did try the online dating thing for a while when I first moved to the Big City. Length of time I gave it: 2 years. Number of men I met face-to-face during that time: more than 20. Number of men I saw again after that initial first encounter: 2. Number of men I became romantically involved with: 0. Number of men with whom I am still in contact: again, 0.

*As for the NYC TV guy hookup (he was just cleared of all charges last night, btw)--no, they weren't in their 20s. He's in his early 40s and I think she was in her 30s. What struck me as really odd about it is that he has this image of being kind of a bumbling nerd-muffin. And while not unattractive, he's not the drop-dead gorgeous type you see everywhere on TV. Certainly not some prowling stud. The kind of guy I'd like to date if he weren't related to a prominent government official whom I find utterly abhorrent. If even the nerd-muffins engage in random hookups, what hope do I have?

I originally signed on here tonight for completely different reasons & then saw Sweetie's comments. (I also saw some comments that were apparently posted years ago but didn't show up until now. Sorry about that, Jane.) I'm just so disgusted with the world and with human beings in general. There's just so much stupidity and hatred and yelling. It just makes me want to stay in bed and never come out. There's a Peanuts cartoon where Lucy says "I love mankind, it's people I can't stand." That's sort of how I feel. Or maybe it's that I like people and hate humankind. I don't know. So many knee-jerking mouth-breathers shooting off their mouths and not thinking. The shouting is so loud, and the stupidity and hatred are so vast, and I am so small.

And somehow in this vast swirling cesspool that is humanity I somehow cling to the belief that there might be one person out there who isn't like that. Where could he be? It's like searching for a needle in a haystack. I feel like I'm screaming to the world in a language only I can understand. I scare and intimidate people just by breathing and existing and being me. Why does being me terrorize and alienate so many people? Why is it that the only way I can keep the people I care about in my life is to keep them at arm's length. Why is it that every time--EVERY DAMN TIME--I open up about how I feel, I end up getting kicked in the teeth?

I just don't think I can be a part of this world anymore. But what choice do I have?
- posted by Pat @ 7:59 PM