Every week I write a column with my girlfriend, Juli, for Meridian Magazine. (http://www.meridianmagazine.com/singlethought/index.html )Our column is about singles and dating, but not necessarily read by only singles. In fact we think that more than half of our readers are married grandpas. If the response letters we get are any indication, most of our readers have 9 grandchildren each, and have all been happily married for 35 years.
Oh, and they all seem to know a nice young man that maybe I should meet.
I never quite know what we/I should do when we get these letters from readers. There had been a break for a while, but suddenly in the past few weeks I have received several letters (always addressed to me, not Juli) letting me know that somewhere in the world there is a man that this complete stranger thinks I should meet.
I guess on the bright side readers are 'connecting' enough with what we write to feel like they know me/us, and feel they can just say whatever to us. But it is amusing to me to wonder at the process that these kind grandfathers went through in their heads to reach the point where they emailed me. First, what was Grandpa doing reading my column on singles and dating? Next, after having read the weekly diatribe mocking dating and most men, why did he think "I know just the man for this girl?" And then, what made him think that this girl would be interested in a man who (and I quote) "walks a little funny, can't make much conversation, and lives in Wyoming." And then he liked his idea so much that he thought he'd write a woman he's never met on the other side of the country and suggest that she contact him?
Or recently I received an email from a man in Texas who was honest about his shortcomings and past (nothing horrific or even alarming), but then proceeded to detail his own personal daydream or fantasy date. It involved horseback riding across the Wild West, a dog named Tippy, and drinking water from a stream out of a hat. Oh, and then dunking my head in the water too. What can I say? He had me at hello.
I have yet to figure out if and when we should respond to such emails. Some men just send in funny little cute emails that are somewhat flattering. My current favorite, "She can shoot? She's worth a second look!" But it does make me wonder! Why is it I can get married men around the world to take an interest in my dating life, and I can get men I will never meet in the remotest part of the country proposing to me, but I can't get a guy in my own neighborhood to take notice of me??
Oh, and they all seem to know a nice young man that maybe I should meet.
I never quite know what we/I should do when we get these letters from readers. There had been a break for a while, but suddenly in the past few weeks I have received several letters (always addressed to me, not Juli) letting me know that somewhere in the world there is a man that this complete stranger thinks I should meet.
I guess on the bright side readers are 'connecting' enough with what we write to feel like they know me/us, and feel they can just say whatever to us. But it is amusing to me to wonder at the process that these kind grandfathers went through in their heads to reach the point where they emailed me. First, what was Grandpa doing reading my column on singles and dating? Next, after having read the weekly diatribe mocking dating and most men, why did he think "I know just the man for this girl?" And then, what made him think that this girl would be interested in a man who (and I quote) "walks a little funny, can't make much conversation, and lives in Wyoming." And then he liked his idea so much that he thought he'd write a woman he's never met on the other side of the country and suggest that she contact him?
Or recently I received an email from a man in Texas who was honest about his shortcomings and past (nothing horrific or even alarming), but then proceeded to detail his own personal daydream or fantasy date. It involved horseback riding across the Wild West, a dog named Tippy, and drinking water from a stream out of a hat. Oh, and then dunking my head in the water too. What can I say? He had me at hello.
I have yet to figure out if and when we should respond to such emails. Some men just send in funny little cute emails that are somewhat flattering. My current favorite, "She can shoot? She's worth a second look!" But it does make me wonder! Why is it I can get married men around the world to take an interest in my dating life, and I can get men I will never meet in the remotest part of the country proposing to me, but I can't get a guy in my own neighborhood to take notice of me??
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