Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Communicating The Old Fashioned Way


When it comes to online dating, I’m a big believer in moving swiftly from emails to talking on the phone. Call me old fashioned, but I think physical communication is a better indicator of chemistry than texting, IM’ing and the like.

Though I clearly state this preference in my profile, it’s not uncommon to hear from guys who seem to have more of an interest in becoming pen pals. Like Chris, for example, from TheSquare.com. After emailing him my number, this was his response:

“I am much more of an emailer and txt'er than a phone-er. The winter months have me pressed to the wall in terms of time-management.

When things are hectic I am very poor at finding time in my day to reserve for a phone call. I can't call out from work; basically. It's rare. Then, once i arrive home and get some quiet moments after cooking dinner and exercising; it's very late and I am drained.

Weekend: I usually go to Manhattan on friday nights for happy-hour; then
sleep til after noon on saturday. Invariably there's a Brooklyn night-out on saturday; and much of my other hours are filled in with cleaning; cooking; groceries; errands.

Cell phones are just not my thing: I mainly depend on them for logistics only. I can text a lot more often than chat. I have a pay-as-you-go plan which emphasizes texts over voice, too. Thats' another consideration.

The bottom line is that I am almost always near a computer screen and
I can communicate and do my work at the same time!”

I’m not sure what I find more astonishing, that Chris found the time in his busy schedule to send this email, or that he explained in such excessive detail how busy he is.

I wish him the best of luck with his time management challenges. I, meanwhile, am looking forward to a date later this week -- with someone who had no problem picking up the phone.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

Melissa--was this a guy you met on Match? I'm wondering (it just popped in my head as a I read this)....do you think that this guy might have an email already written up to send out to potential dates irritated by his lack of phoning?