Craigslist post gets a reaction

[STR8UP]

Another poster PM'ed me a few days ago about a Craigslist personals ad he and a buddy had created as a joke/experiment to see what kind of reaction it would get from women. It was a VERY self assured, straight to the point post that has the potential to offend some women and possibly turn others on.

He told me that he had gotten some good responses from the ad, so I asked permission to borrow it to use for myself. I changed up some of the wording to reflect my own tastes and desires.

It is basically a list of qualifications a woman must meet in order to date me. Any positive response would be VERY positive, in that the frame has been established that I am the prize. The ad basically states such...that I am the prize and any woman wishing to spend time with me must qualify.

I polished it up this afternoon and posted it early this evening. Went to a party and just got home to my first response. Here it is.....

I'm sorry to tell you this but your post makes you sound like an arrogant, pompous ass...which you may or may not be. I very rarely respond to these because very few impress me. A bit of advice if you're really looking for an intelligent, respectable woman is not to insult & belittle them before you meet them. I doubt you get any quality responses to this post. I realize this is none of my business but I guess I was just annoyed...just because you obviously had some issues with previous women doesn't give you the right to talk down to all women. Good luck with your standards, requirements & criteria!

This is a "negative" reaction. Lets dissect a few lines to figure out it's TRUE meaning

I'm sorry to tell you this but your post makes you sound like an arrogant, pompous ass...which you may or may not be.

Well, well. It makes me SOUND like a pompous ass, which I may or may not be??? Sounds like someone might be holding out hope that I am NOT a pompous ass...

I very rarely respond to these because very few impress me.

Hmmmm.....I could be way off base here, but did she essentially just say that my ad "impressed" her???

A bit of advice if you're really looking for an intelligent, respectable woman is not to insult & belittle them before you meet them. I doubt you get any quality responses to this post. I realize this is none of my business but I guess I was just annoyed...just because you obviously had some issues with previous women doesn't give you the right to talk down to all women. Good luck with your standards, requirements & criteria!

There was absolutely nothing in the ad that insulted or "belittled" women. It stated that my recent experiences with dating had failed to live up to my expectations, and listed what I expect from a woman. I even let a couple of my friends look at it and both of them said "Yea, that's basically what I want in a woman as well". They didn't see how any of it could be taken as insulting (at least by a rational person, which women are not, lol)

Although I am using this ad to see if I actually CAN dig up some prospects, it is also a social experiment.

Here I have an email from a woman. I obviously got her attention, and I might be imagining things, but despite her negative tone I think I might be able to game her. She didn't even realize what she was saying when she stated that my ad impressed her.

Now I don't know anything about this person. She could be a 350lb divorced mother of 4 who lives in a trailer park, but I'm curious to see how far I can take this and any other replies I get.

This could get interesting.....

 

[KontrollerX]

Can ya copy and paste exactly what you said in the ad Str8up?

Also good breakdown of her blatherings to ya.

She was clearly impressed enough by what you wrote to respond.

She's probably been used and tossed aside by guys with a lot of self esteem and decided to lash out at you to vicariously pay them back through you.

Yet when you read between the lines you can see she still craves the kind of man you portrayed yourself as in the ad.

Interesting.

 

[MikeYikes122]

Ok, I am the original guy STR8UP was PMing with. I was debating whether or not I would actually post this on the message board because I thought it might give up my real life identity, but I think I am in the clear. Below is the text of my post on Craigslist. I did I think the exact same thing STR8UP did. I've only changed a couple of details to keep things anonymous.

Subject: Dating me is a privilege

I'm going to put it simply. I'm 25, well-educated, good looking, and I have a good-paying job. I dated at least 20 girls throughout college, and I'm approached by handfuls of girls every night I go out to the bars. I have a good personality and white teeth. I'm fairly muscular at 5'10 155 pounds, but I'm not too muscular to the point that it is gross.

In other words, I am a prize, and dating me is something that you have to qualify for and work for. I'm sick of the floozies I meet at bars because none of them actually have personalities. Most of them are barely even worth talking to. So, I'm turning to Craigslist to find better results, but before you e-mail me anything please read below.

Here are the requirements for dating me, in no particular order of relevance:

1. You must be in the 20-25 age group.
2. You must be physically attractive, and you must provide at least three pictures of yourself. Send any less and I will just delete your e-mail.
3. You must be physically fit to a respectable level. You don't have to be a gym rat, but I myself am in good shape, so it's not fair for me to have a girlfriend who is out of shape.
4. You must not want exclusivity until I decide I like you. That might come after two or three dates, or it could take up to two months in some extreme cases. You must be accepting of this.
5. You must be accepted by my friends. This is perhaps the easiest requirement to fulfill. My friends are cool. Otherwise, they wouldn't be my friends.
6. You must not be a feminist. Feminists are annoying and ruining our society.
7. I don't care about sex. Yes, you read correctly. I don't care about when or at what point in the relationship we become sexually intimate. Sex is no longer a big deal for me. I've had plenty, and I've found it to be a non-necessity for living life.

Those are the seven requirements you must fulfill to go out on a date with me. I realize these requirements are easy to fulfill, but you must keep in mind you will only qualify for a date with me. The girlfriend review process, as said before, can sometimes take up to two months. It's all situational.

Please, do not e-mail me if you don't fulfill all seven of the requirements. I'm sure you're a nice person and worth getting to know. But I unfortunately already have plenty of friends, and I'm not looking to widen my social circle with a post on the Internet. I hope there is no hard feelings over this.

Fire away ladies.

That was the post in almost all of its entirety. Granted, some of that stuff was exaggerated a little bit for effect, but it is for the most part a description of me or my friend.

The story behind it is that me and a buddy I work with were out at the bars after work one night, and we ended up bringing some girls back to his place. We each both had a girl. I thought I was going to hook up with mine, he thought the same with his. But the girls each started puking literally 15 minutes after we walked in his door, and to make a long story short I ended up passing out on the floor while both the girls hogged every piece of furniture in his living room. The only thing I got out of the night was a pair of blue balls and an awkward drive home the next morning.

Anyway, a couple of days later at work the joke was that we were going to have to turn to Craigslist to meet quality chicks. Eventually, that resulted in this post.

It started off as a joke and was actually the result of me reading The Alphabet of Manliness, which is a hilarious book written by an Internet blogger named Maddox, who writes and blogs about being an alpha male. If you've read it, I'm sure you can see where I copied his prose in my post. If you haven't read it, pick it up because I am sure you will enjoy it.

The post was a big running joke between us and a couple of other male co-workers until girls started responding. The first couple of girls gave responses similar to what STR8UP posted. They acted appalled, but you had to suspect they had some sort of hidden motives because I literally said in my post that I didn't want to hear from anyone who didn't fulfill my requirements. After that, three or four other girls responded saying they'd be up for a date and they fulfilled my requirements, but they weren't going to send me a picture until I sent one of mine. One girl sent one picture, but she wasn't very attractive.

Though, the morning after the post went on Craigslist I got an e-mail that made my jaw drop and hit the keyboard. A girl responded, explaining to me that she was sick of meeting guys in traditional ways. She went through each of my requirements and told me why she fit them, and to my astonishment she responded with three pictures of herself to prove she was physically attractive. She suggested at the end of the e-mail that her and I get together and go out on multiple dates. I was shocked and was kind of in disbelief at first, but her e-mail is an address that is setup so it automatically gives her full name in the header of every e-mail she sends. Everything checked out. I even looked her up on Facebook, and she was the real deal.

She looked good in her pictures and a friend who somehow knows her told me she is hot, but I'm still skeptical. She is about four years younger than me, and I'm kind of weirded out by the whole thought of meeting someone through the Internet, so I responded to her e-mail saying I was too old for her and that the whole thing was just a joke. I still sent her a picture of myself, and she suggested in another response that we still hang out.

I know everyone on this board is going to overwhelmingly tell me to hit her up, but I'm just weirded out by the thought of meeting people through the Internet.

Anyway, didn't mean to steal the thunder from STR8UP's original post, but I had to give everyone on here the full story.

 

[insidious]

Hey that's awesome.
You simply turned the tables in the
realm of internet hook ups. Have
you seen women's ads?? They are
brimming with requirements and demands
(which I think is fair) however
how many men do that? I don't find
myself reading men's ads, but I'm
imagining most men will advertise
from a position of helpless hopefulness
and list all the things they can and
will do for women, not vice versa.

I've thought of doing something like
this as a goof but you beat me to it
and your ad is much better than mine
would have been. Good job! Keep
us posted on more "results" of your
experiment.

(btw, 5'10" and 155 doesn't strike me
as "fairly muscular"...I would say it's
lean...but this isn't H&F, so
whatever! Personal ads are
cool that way :yes: )

 

[RedPill]

I like what you guys have done as a social experiment - it's outside the box - but I'd be doing you a disservice if I didn't offer up this perspective:

I know everyone on this board is going to overwhelmingly tell me to hit her up, but I'm just weirded out by the thought of meeting people through the Internet.

If your fear of meeting people through the internet is rooted in the idea of meeting up with someone who has mis-represented their self, and you already have multiple verifications that this chick is legit (including from an independent, non-internet source), then is it really your fear of meeting people from the internet that's holding you back?

Cliche of course, but rejection is better than regret.

 

[STR8UP]

The first couple of girls gave responses similar to what STR8UP posted. They acted appalled, but you had to suspect they had some sort of hidden motives because I literally said in my post that I didn't want to hear from anyone who didn't fulfill my requirements.

Yea, you read the response I got. It was "negative" but the tone was "Who does he think he is! Hmmmm makes me wonder......" I'm contemplating firing off a response just to see what happens. I would be willing to bet I could get her to the point where she would meet me if I turned this from pretty much c0cky, to c0cky/funny.

The beautiful thing about Craigslist is that is the anonymity. I could post six different ads to troll for the one that gets the best response, and nobody would know any different.

After that, three or four other girls responded saying they'd be up for a date and they fulfilled my requirements, but they weren't going to send me a picture until I sent one of mine.

I was thinking that the "three picture rule" might be asking a little much, especially since there was no offer of a return concession and the wording was possibly a little strong. I though about changing it up but I liked the ad so much I wanted to keep as much of it intact as possible, and in places I felt myself wanting to tone it down and that would have defeated the purpose.

She is about four years younger than me,

We gotta get you over that! Like I said, I got ten years on you and I would have met up with her!

I know everyone on this board is going to overwhelmingly tell me to hit her up, but I'm just weirded out by the thought of meeting people through the Internet.

Social stigma??

I have met a few chicks online. One was a one night BJ in the park, one drove 1000 miles and rented a hotel room. One lived about 5 states away, did everything but say "I love you". Even sent me flowers! But ended up stringing me along until I finally told her to get lost.

One was actually HOT, and had a personality that was similar to the tone of the ad you wrote up, believe it or not. I met her for coffee and you could tell she was in qualifying mode. I guess I must have passed her initial criteria, cause I met up with her briefly at a club one night a week or two later. I didn't feel the spark so I didn't pursue anything, then she sends me an email a few weeks later saying she was moving out of town. Don't know why she even bothered to do that, but....

Anyway, I have never actually TRIED to meet women online. These were random chat room hookups.

My good buddy met his current wife on an AOL chat room. They have a big house and two kids and seem happy.

It isn't like people on the internet are aliens or anything. I am actually glad you PMed me about this because I have been considering trying Myspace since I find it nearly impossible to have a social life. A guy I know travels a lot, and he says he uses Match.com to set up several dates for when he gets back in town and it works like a charm. Don't know why it never occurred to me to give Craigslist a shot, cause as I mentioned before I have great success renting condos on there, and I can post an ad looking for models and have a dozen hits in just a few days, so i KNOW there are good looking women browsing that site.

As I told you in the PM, when you first sent me this it really hit home cause I automatically thought of how it was using the same psychology as the ad I posted on there looking for a cleaning service. Instead of getting on the phone and calling a dozen different companies, I wrote up an ad and posted it in the same section as the cleaning companies post looking for work. Again, within a couple of days one simple ad can generate a dozen responses, and it saves me LOTS of time.

Anyway, didn't mean to steal the thunder from STR8UP's original post, but I had to give everyone on here the full story.

You didn't steal any thunder. I was going to PM you and ask permission to post the text of the ad. Glad you decided to elaborate.

 

[STR8UP]

Haha, forgot to mention that her subject line for her email was-

Here is my modified version of the ad

Dating me is a privilege

I'm going to put it simply. I have dated my share of women, but good ones are rare. I have quite a few female friends, but unfortunately most of the women I meet just do not measure up to my standards for a relationship.
I'm a 36 yr old entrepreneur. I am good looking, and am often told that I look like I am in my 20’s. I am very intelligent, I have a great personality. I have traveled to many interesting places and enjoy discovering new things.

I have a lot to offer a woman, so dating me is something that you have to qualify for. I'm tired of dealing with the women I am meeting lately. Most of them tend to be party girls who lack any kind of substance, or are jealous, possessive types who cause drama. Craigslist has been an excellent resource for my business, so I made the decision to post this to see if I can find better results. Before you e-mail me anything please read below.

Here are the requirements for dating me, in no particular order of relevance:

1. I prefer women between the ages of 24 and 32. I am willing to make exceptions to this rule, however, I don't have time for anyone who is bitter, immature, or has any kind of dislike for men.
2. You must be physically attractive, and you must provide at least three pictures of yourself. Send any less and I will delete your e-mail.
3. You must be physically fit to a respectable level. You don't have to be a gym rat, but I myself am in decent shape, so I expect any woman I date to be in decent shape as well.
4. You must not expect immediate exclusivity. This may come with time , but I will not commit until I decide I like you. That might come after two or three dates, or it might take longer. You must be accepting of this.
5. You must be accepted by my friends. This is perhaps the easiest requirement to fulfill. My friends have good taste. Otherwise, they wouldn't be my friends.
6. You must also accept the fact that many of my friends happen to be female. This is sometimes a problem with women I date. Many of my female friends are young and attractive, so if you are insecure or feel threatened by this, please do not respond.
7. You must be drama free. As soon as a woman displays the tendency to attract drama, I move on.
8. You must have respect for my time. I keep dates and ensure that I am on time, and I expect the same from other people.
9. You must not be a feminist. Feminists are ruining our society. You must accept the fact that it is unnatural for a woman to try to "wear the pants". A healthy relationship requires a healthy balance, but at the end of the day I won't tolerate a woman who challenges my masculinity. I want a feminine woman just as a real woman desires a masculine man.
10. I don't care about sex. Yes, you read correctly. I don't care about when or at what point in the relationship we become sexually intimate. Sex is no longer a big deal for me. I've had plenty, and although I find it pleasurable, it is not the end all be all of a relationship. You must accept the fact that the "third date rule" does not necessarily apply, and I only have sex with women who have proven their value.

Those are the requirements you must fulfill to go out on a date with me. I realize these requirements are easy to meet, but you must keep in mind that meeting these criteria will only qualify you for a date.

I take committed relationships seriously and as such I am not looking to settle down with just "anyone". This means that I am very particular about who I become involved with. I have had several long term relationships and am far from being "commitment phobic", but I refuse to limit my options by offering my loyalty to a woman who is unwilling to reciprocate, so you must show me that you are loyal and you must have integrity. In other words, you must prove that you are a cut above the rest to receive the title of "girlfriend".

Please, do not e-mail me if you don't fulfill all of these requirements. I'm sure you're a nice person and worth getting to know. But I already have plenty of friends, and I'm not looking to widen my social circle with a post on the Internet. I hope there are no hard feelings over this.

Fire away ladies.

So the question is, how could this be tweaked even more to get maximum effect?

I'm on the fence about editing the subject line "Dating me is a privilege" and also this line

I have a lot to offer a woman, so dating me is something that you have to qualify for.

This could go either way. I think the subject line is an attention grabber, but could it benefit by being worded a bit differently? The other line I think might be just a little too strong and could be a tipping point for some women.

I'm definitely going to edit the pic requirement, since hearing Mike's experience. It needs to read something like "You must be physically attractive, and you must provide at least two photos of yourself. In turn I will provide you with mine."

I might also edit my own rendition of the feminist rule. I don't want it to sound too whiny, and I think it would benefit from being a little more concise.

Any ideas?

 

[lookyoung]

With the ad your putting youself on a pedestal. I am sure the girls are going to expect you to be at the very least an 8 in looks and make at least $250,000 a year. You will get a girl intersted in you but just keep in mind this girl is going to expect a guy that looks like the bachelor.

If your a guy with a 6 or under in looks this will not work, because you will be seen as a phony. All around its a great ad if your very good looking and make over 250,000 a year.

 

[RedPill]

The tone and the way you position yourself in this is excellent. It's very well thought out.

To me, the subtext currently reads like this:

- I'm a PRIZE. Thus, my high standards are reasonable and justified.
- You must meet these high standards for relationship consideration.
- Ladies you will have to prove yourself to me. In exchange I'll give you access to the STR8UP Kingdom.
- You will be nexted automatically without consideration if you fall short of the base criteria spelled out here. Please don't take it personally.

I'd perhaps consider modifying the tone slightly to make it sound a bit more collaborative, and slightly less like you're seeking a quid-pro-quo exchange - all while maintaining the high, inflexible standards you've laid out for girlfriend candidates.

For instance, instead of this line:

Those are the requirements you must fulfill to go out on a date with me. I realize these requirements are easy to meet, but you must keep in mind that meeting these criteria will only qualify you for a date.

I might suggest replacing the bold text with "to merit further exploration of whether or not we might be a fit to develop a relationship together."

Also in #10, consider changing "...does not necessarily apply, and I only have sex with women who have proven their value" to "...does not necessarily apply. I only have sex with women who exceed my base criteria, with whom there's a natural sexual chemistry."

The reason I suggest these slight modifications is to make you appear to be more genuine in seeking a relationship, versus seeking arm-candy. It will make it that much harder for women like the first one who responded to throw up the "you're an unrealistic ass" protest, without bending your demand of substance.

 

[STR8UP]

With the ad your putting youself on a pedestal. I am sure the girls are going to expect you to be at the very least an 8 in looks and make at least $250,000 a year. You will get a girl intersted in you but just keep in mind this girl is going to expect a guy that looks like the bachelor.

If your a guy with a 6 or under in looks this will not work, because you will be seen as a phony. All around its a great ad if your very good looking and make over 250,000 a year.

I agree with the looks part.

However....there is nothing in there that says "I look like a Greek God". It simply states that I am in decent shape and I am good looking. It's a subjective thing of course, and I am by no means a Greek God, but I have been told by quite a few women that I am in fact "good looking" so I don't see too much of a problem. Besides, give me ten minutes of rapport building and I will eradicate any looks apprehension providing she is baseline attracted to me in the first place.

As for the money thing, I believe that is irrelevant. I will be the first one to tell you that a women seek men with the potential to provide, but it's the core qualities a man possesses that generally matter most, not your income level.

And plus, I don't care how much money I have, I don't spend it on a chick, and it isn't necessary to do so.

 

[STR8UP]

Red,

That's exactly what I am talking about. I think changes in a few key phrases would make all the difference in the world as to how this is received, yet it can still retain the desired effect.

Another thing is that it is a bit on the lengthy side. I think it could benefit from being a little shorter.

If I get time tonight I'm gonna take some of these suggestions and revise the ad.

 

[TooColdUlrick]

i won't post it here, but i did a similar thing on CL a couple of years ago. mine, however was pretty arrogant. not in an angry way, but matter of factly. right on the edge of confidence and arrogant. check that...it was arrogant as fvck ;-)

it all centered around, "I am better than you". i have a better career, a better lifestyle, better friends, etc.

i used big words, sophisticated concepts, and did not use one contraction. not using contractions conveys power, and formalizes it.

I won't post the message here.
I will not post the message here.

??

my requirements were under 28, college degree, with graduate degree or working on one to the front of the line, very close to 5'6 120 lbs, and several other things, including being a very passable bikini model type.

i demanded that they send me three (yes three) pictures and that if i didn't see an attachment i would delete the message unread. i didn't even put a picture up, but i got about 20 responses. about 10 actually sent me three pictures with a favorable response. a couple sent me one or two with an apology, lol. the remaining responses were long rants about how much of an arrogant jerk i was...and were probably creaming their panties when writing back, despite the "negative" response. it was funny that a couple of the ones that hated me so much STILL sent a pic...because of my threat of not reading msgs without an attachment.

the whole point was to really stir up some emotions in the dead pool of CL posts...the dead pool of men in general these days.

four or five of these chicks were pretty damn hot and appeared to meet the requirements (some of the responses were resume-like...you know, like guys give to chicks online). unfortunately i actually really didn't give a flying flip at the time.

on a side note...

at least in LA, CL is a complete waste of time these days. the spam is incredible. the going rate is .10 cents a post for indians to do it en masse, as well as reply back to your posts. not to mention some nice autoposters/responders. the volume of losers on there is equally as incredible. i haven't posted on there in over a year. if you reply to womens' posts, no matter how real they appear, you will be on every spam list on earth.

chicks on the internet are such a waste of time. if you have decent game, give it a decent try, you shouldn't have too much of a problem in the 'real world'. myspace for example was ok a couple of years ago, but then the total losers flooded in...and in turn flooded women. i still have 1000+ chicks on my myspace, but i've made zero effort in the last year.

stigma with internet dating? yeah...there's just too much garbage to sludge through, on both sides. right off the bat, you are assumed to be a desperate, lying, cheater.

 

[Mr. Me]

I think several things account for the responses you'd get to an ad like that. One is where a women drools over coming upon an ad that oozes confidence. I'd add some humor into the mix though.

The ones that criticize you are negative toward you because you're banging into their paradigm of how men should acquiesce to women and they react by hurling their snarls at you to get you to back down.

That is to say, don't you know that when a woman says that you're being mean, what they're really saying is that you're not going along with their program.

Here's my deconstruction. I have a different interpretation for this woman-speak:

"I'm sorry to tell you this but your post makes you sound like an arrogant, pompous ass...which you may or may not be."

= "I am calling you these slurs, you pompous ass, but by adding 'which you may or may not be' I'm making it seem that I may not actually mean it, just so you don't think I'm being rude."

"I very rarely respond to these because very few impress me"

= "I never see anything like what you wrote. Usually it's guys writing about how they're going to romance me and give me everything I want, or it's a long diatribe about their broken hearts or some stuff I don't really care about. Yours though just makes me really annoyed and angry enough to react because I'm a woman and so I give in to my emotions easily. You pompous ass."

"A bit of advice if you're really looking for an intelligent, respectable woman is not to insult & belittle them before you meet them. I doubt you get any quality responses to this post. I realize this is none of my business but I guess I was just annoyed...just because you obviously had some issues with previous women doesn't give you the right to talk down to all women."

= "You're stepping out of line and you must not disturb the paradigm of how men should acquiesce to women so I'm insulting you back into submission by belittling your intelligence and calling you disturbed! Back down NOW!!! Grrrr. Grrrr."

"Good luck with your standards, requirements & criteria!"

= "F@ck you, you pompous ass!"

 

[TooColdUlrick]

I have met a few chicks online. One was a one night BJ in the park, one drove 1000 miles and rented a hotel room. One lived about 5 states away, did everything but say "I love you". Even sent me flowers! But ended up stringing me along until I finally told her to get lost.

i've called out two people on this board. one was PoserSupreme (PlayerSupreme) and the other was Wyldfire.

that said...

is it just me that finds it very, very, very, hard to believe that a chick would drive 2,000 miles round trip-- even if there was A LOT of prior virtual communication, or you were "filming" something.

it's also very, very, very, very, very, hard to believe that a DJ would get involved with a chick who was willing to drive 2,000 miles round trip without first knowing her very, very, very, very well. as in fiance or something close to it.

same goes for the 5 state away chick. she was stringing you along until you told her to get lost? a chick that lived 5 states away was stringing you along?

Anyway, I have never actually TRIED to meet women online. These were random chat room hookups.

not buying it at all.

I could post six different ads to troll for the one that gets the best response, and nobody would know any different.

enough said.

It isn't like people on the internet are aliens or anything. I am actually glad you PMed me about this because I have been considering trying Myspace since I find it nearly impossible to have a social life.

now that one i believe...except for the aliens part.

sorry STR8UP, but i have to ask...do you live in your mother's basement?

 

[STR8UP]

i've called out two people on this board. one was PoserSupreme (PlayerSupreme) and the other was Wyldfire.

that said...

is it just me that finds it very, very, very, hard to believe that a chick would drive 2,000 miles round trip-- even if there was A LOT of prior virtual communication, or you were "filming" something.

Called out....that's cute.

If you want the LONGER version of the story, the reason I started talking to this chick in the first place was in a chat room in the city where I live. She was IN the chat room because she used to LIVE here. So, although she did drive 1000 miles, rented a hotel room for a couple of nights, and sucked my d!ck till 4am, it wasn't like she was driving to some strange and unfamiliar place.

it's also very, very, very, very, very, hard to believe that a DJ would get involved with a chick who was willing to drive 2,000 miles round trip without first knowing her very, very, very, very well. as in fiance or something close to it.

Who said I was "involved" with her?

I had been talking to her for awhile and one day she up and tells me that she's coming down for a couple of days. That kind of freaked me out, but I made it very clear that if I met up with her it was for sex ONLY.

same goes for the 5 state away chick. she was stringing you along until you told her to get lost? a chick that lived 5 states away was stringing you along?

Uh, well, I'm not proud to say it, but this was in the early days of the internet and I was like a kid in a candy store. Started talking to this girl and before you know it we were both buying into a ridiculous fantasy. She talked about flying down for a weekend and kept stalling it and stalling it. She told me to come up there, but I'm glad I didn't. It was a waste of a couple of months, but oh well, lesson learned.

not buying it at all.



enough said.



now that one i believe...except for the aliens part.

sorry STR8UP, but i have to ask...do you live in your mother's basement?

I'm one of the few people on here that have met several of my fellow Sosuave posters in person, so it's laughable that YOU are trying to "call me out".

 

[MikeYikes122]

Sorry guys, I'm busy with the holidays and don't have time to respond to the entire thread. I'm going to try my best here in the little bit of free time I have today.

If your fear of meeting people through the internet is rooted in the idea of meeting up with someone who has mis-represented their self, and you already have multiple verifications that this chick is legit (including from an independent, non-internet source), then is it really your fear of meeting people from the internet that's holding you back?

Cliche of course, but rejection is better than regret.

I think you're completely wrong here. I'm apprehensive toward meeting her because the situation has the potential to be flat-out awkward. While I might know she is attractive, I've never talked to this person before and have no frame of reference for who she is or how she might act. I'm not completely comfortable with that. There's also the potential that one of my friends or someone I know sees me out with her. I will at that point either have to lie or admit that I met a girl on Craigslist. I know that most people on this board will tell me I shouldn't give a sh!t what them or other people think, but I have a little bit too much pride to admit to meeting a girl on the Internet. I guess the stigma of the whole thing still bothers me.

You bring up rejection. There really is no threat of rejection. I mean, she has seen a picture of me and asked me to go out with her even after I told her the whole thing wasn't serious. I was actually thinking I could probably hook-up with this girl on the first night I hang out with her. I think it would be a lay-up, something I wouldn't even have to put much effort into.

One of the other reasons I'm kind of apprehensive is because I'm trying to get better at picking up girls in bars. Hooking up with a girl via the Internet would be kind of counterproductive to that I think. I wouldn't want to use Craigslist as a crutch or anything like that.

Though, I think all of this is kind of a moot point anyway because I'm going to e-mail her back in a few days here and tell her I've thought about it and have decided we can hang out when the holidays are over. It should be a good story, but I think that is going to be the extent of my online dating career, for now at least.

I'd perhaps consider modifying the tone slightly to make it sound a bit more collaborative, and slightly less like you're seeking a quid-pro-quo exchange - all while maintaining the high, inflexible standards you've laid out for girlfriend candidates.

I do agree with this. Keep in mind, this whole thing started off as a joke, and I was trying to sound like Maddox in most of it. I think STR8UP is right when he says he might want to change the title. Maybe to something like "Your chance to date a prize". Although, that might not be very good either. Today I'm going to think about some edits to make to it and post again tonight or tomorrow. Hopefully I can come up with something good.

 

[mrRuckus]

I suggest you write your ad like this:

Title: pedestal needs princess


Well here are my likes and who i am so you can decide.

Romantic
I love playing sports especially Golf
I like going to baseball games and football college and pro
i actually have a romantic comedy dvd collection of about 25
i listen to a lot of music
i love the show entourage it starts back up tonight yay!!
i enjoy museums the fine arts rooftop brunches going dancing shopping at eastern market and happy hours
trouble finding a friend and a girlfriend in the same person
down to earth
laid back relaxed
a guy to bring home to the parents
horseback riding and surfing
i am educated in history and political science in college as well as business ethics and morals and marketing strategies
non smoker
6'2
working full time
no kids
great personality
i love to smile laugh and have fun
life life laugh love and eat drink and be merry as dave matthews once said

looking forward to hearing from you

And remember, the most important part is to make sure you tell girls you like to have fun. Lots of people dont' like to have fun and smile so make sure you tell her you are one who does. Unless you want goth chicks. Then say you like to frown a lot and be angry. And tell them about your romantic comedy dvd collection. Chicks dig sensitive guys.

 

[STR8UP]

It's the holidays and I'm sure things are slow, but I got my second response. Here it is. Subject line "couldn't resist":

Ok, so I read your post and it cracked me up, primarily because I had
a similarly brutally honest post on a different site. So yeah, I'll
give you the pics and my stats, 5'8, 115 lbs, athletic, georgetown
graduate, 27 yrs old. I am not going to bother with any additional
info because it is also a privilege to date ME lol. So you can check
out my pics (I have to send them separately cuz of the message size
limitations) and send some back. Here are a few of my requirements:
a) tall
b) smart
c) hot
d) muscular/athletic
e) good heart
f) funny
g) has time for me

tty soon...maybe ;-)
Jenny

So I open the pics, first one is a camera phone mirror pic of a slender (athletic) blonde chick in boy shorts and a tank top. Looks like she's getting ready for bed. Second pic is of her in her underwear. Hot chick, but not really my "type".

The email sounded real enough, but who the fukk sends pics like that to reply to a craigslist ad? Is it worth it for spammers to go THAT far?

On the slight chance she's for real I'm tempted to reply telling her she's not really physically my type and she's a little too forward for my taste, and tell her I would still be willing to meet for coffee one evening, just to see what she/he/it says.

 

[lookyoung]

On the slight chance she's for real I'm tempted to reply telling her she's not really physically my type and she's a little too forward for my taste, and tell her I would still be willing to meet for coffee one evening, just to see what she/he/it says.

I say give it a shot, you have nothing to lose. It sounds like she could be fake but coffee never hurt anyone. Keep us posted with other replies. This is pretty interesting.

I was never much into the online game until about a year ago and have had pretty good success with it. Will probably post a thread on my online dating experiences within the next few days. I have quite a few.

Hey if this ad can get you some dates than just go with it, and take it from there.

 

[mrRuckus]

I took the general concept and rewrote it in my own words. This type of "gruffness" always worked for me on my "about me" on myspace with some humor mixed in so i didn't view this thread as some new revelation, but i've never tried an actual dating site or site like craigslist.


In about 4 hours i've gotten two responses. It's about 5am now and i posted around midnight... i'm expecting it to pick up later.. yeah.. it's christmas and i can't sleep with a toothache (yay vicadin!) so i found a way to entertain myself.

I renamed the title to be "I'm a prize. Are you a winner?"

I really think that original email is a bit too blunt so i softened it up a tad. It's actually a bit more wordy. I added a couple 'rules' myself and edited the part of the emails without pictures being deleted out. Instead i put:

"3. You must be physically attractive, and you must provide at least three pictures of yourself. Sending three face only shots to hide your body is pointless. I'd find out eventually anyway. I will provide pictures in return."

Women will do that. Send you face shots so you have no real idea if she's some chubbo trying to hide it. I wanted to snuff that out early.

I said 21-28 but I can be a little flexible with it based on maturity. I really had no intention of going over 30 and don't really even want 21, but whatever. 23-26 is really ideal.

I put in my actual body stats and the fact that i'm fairly muscular and am pretty dedicated to my health and go to the gym on a regular basis.. and added "women's favorite features of mine are my big blue eyes." Not one lie anywhere... I added the rule "you must be a good kisser." It is pretty important to me as i like sensual women and will be turned off by a hot girl if she kisses like plywood, and women are into that sort of thing so i figured it could only help to make me look good for caring about that without it being overtly sexual.


One email from a japanese girl that i got pretty quick where she goes through and comments on each question:

Subject: Hi, Prize


Hi, there;

I read your ad and wanted to say hello;

1. I am fit, 5"8 117LB. I do: any kind of dancing, martial arts, and exercises.
2. mmmm, I am 33. Too old?
3. I am prettyyyyyyyyyyy
4. Scrutiny...Okay, I gottya.
5. I like to laugh.
6. No drama for me. I am too old for that.
7. I like parties. So, maybe I can have drinks and have fun with your friends, too.
8. I am Japanese. I am always on time.
9. Well, I like sex. But, I guess that I can wait...
10. I think that I am a good kisser.

I tired to attach my pic, but I couldn't.
If you reply to this mail, I will try again.
Hope to hear from you.

Asian Trophy

I replied and said while i appreciate your high opinion of yourself in attempting to qualify, i'd go no further without the pictures. She replied almost immediately with 3 pictures that were true to her description. She's fairly cute but nothing special. Was probably much better when she was 25. Better than i thought she'd be really, but i can see some of you into her. I don't tend to like asian girls as they have flat chests usually.


Then i got this email:

I never date guys from bars. It's a horrible way to meet "quality" people without one or both parties having the intention to make a sexual connection. In addition, most of the men I meet when Im out are lacking "quality" elements: personalities, drive, ambition, love, spirit, or most importantly intelligence.

I am 24, 5'7, green eyes, athletic. I have been in [edited out city name] for about 6 months now and Im in the [edited out] area. I live with a good friend from high school and my awesome dog (active little guy)!
I love to be outdoors, hiking, snowboarding, whatever! I work out often and eat very well. I haven't had McD in about 10 years and I dont really drink soda. I eat mostly a whole grain/organic/green tea kind of diet. Im a huge health nut and I read medical magazines. My roommate makes fun of me.

I stray from drama. I absolutely hate it. Im never the kindling in the fire; you'll find that Im very laid back and easy going. I get along with everyone I meet for there is no reason to hate without a reason. Im also from Texas so I can hang around with you and your "dudes" on Sunday eating really hot wings and watching 5 hours of football. Im very versatile in my likes. I also have a flip side which tends to intimidate most men I date. I come off as being sort of your girl next door, but I also have very sophisticated side. Im not high maintenance although, I maintain myself well. I find joy in and respect things of quality: art, music, opera, wine, food, etc. I enjoy intelligent conversation and I can hold my own on a wide range of topics. Im more of the philosophical type than not. I love to read anything from "car and driver" to random medical/science journals. Im very respectful of time in all things related. My biggest pet peeve is when others show up late. I think that if you make a date or plan with someone, you keep it. I drop guys who disregard this and flake out. Im never a flake when it comes to this. Im not a serious girl, but I take things like this seriously. The dating game for example is not a game to me.

And lastly, I agree with you on humor and sex. First, I absolutely, hands down, 100%, love to laugh. I love to have a good time and love guys who make me laugh. Second, I feel its a very important element in a relationship, but it should never be the defining one. I have dated several men this year and Im realizing, like you, that most of these people lack the qualities (the operative word) that are important to me as they seem to be to you. Ive attached some photos Im the blonde. By the way, I use the word "quality" loosely in this email. I hope you dont get a sense that I am bias or racist in any way. I just do think that people will inevitably settle on a certain level and they higher ones typically include people of a higher caliber. Ive attached some pics: a random assortment (Im the blond on the far left)

Merry Christmas. Im looking forward to knowing you better!

She TOTALLY was qualifying herself to match EVERY rule I put in there. I thought it was weird she said she's not racist. Where did she say anything that was racist before that? Heh... guilty conscious? I like how she mirrored right back at me the term "quality" over and over after i had said "i'm sick of low quality women at the bars..."

She send one typical girl's night out pic... one tasteful but sexy whole body shot of her in a halloween costume (sexy legs and a good chest)... and one more closeup of her face... blonde...about a 7.5 overall.

I really didn't think cute/hot women were actually on craigslist. I sure don't see them posted in the "women looking for men" section. That seems to have about nothing but fat ladies who call themselves "curvy."