Finding love on Craigslist

I mainly use Craigslist to place ads for roommates (and once I sold a used appliance for $25).

Although I have ventured into the rants and raves, the blatant racism quickly turned me away. Occasionally I take a gander at the best-of-craigslist feature. Once I looked at Missed Connections to see if anybody missed me (no one did).

Amazingly, some people have claimed to find love among the whackos who post grainy photos of their crotches. At least that's what Vidya Rao says in her story, How I got a life (and love) on Craigslist .

"I came across one guy's posting with the heading “Artistic type looking to take someone to a movie” and — gasp — a photo of his face. As a broke graduate student in the city, I concluded that the chances of meeting someone crazy were worth being able to see a $12 flick and, I reasoned, I could probably score dinner out of him, too.

So I responded to the ad and told him we could meet at the theater. We chatted and e-mailed short get-to-know-you messages for the next 72 hours until the big day arrived. On the way to the theater, scenarios about this strange man attacking me with a chloroform-soaked cloth and dragging me back to his dungeon played over and over in my mind. (He later told me that his biggest worry was that I was a troll.)

After the movie, I hyperanalyzed out of nervousness. Is this a date? Is he gay? Wait, why is he more interested in my shoes than in what I'm saying?"

Aside from housing, cheap stuff and roommates, CL can be a decent place to meet people. One of my friends posted an ad for running and exercise buddies.

I now have two friends I never would have met if my third friend wasn't so desperate for aerobic companionship.

-- The Landlady