:: Verbs via Ones and Zeros ::

Your most amuzing post to date. An excellent idea.

 

thanks decidedly!

 

Great post! Interesting that you have deleted your ads. Are you going to respond to any of your responses? I'd like to see that post!

 

http://www.blogebrity.com/blog/2005/12/nicole-does-craigslist.php

 

???
"59 guys" comes to 27.52%
... but add one guy...
and the new percentage is 27.06%?

Call me geekish. :)

P.S. I'm too far from L.A. or I would certainly have answered them too! Wouldn't want you to feel like it was non-unanimous. :)

 

I guess it's a statement about how the holidays affect people, that 228 guys were browsing for a partner on/around Christmas.

 

Two thumbs up for the kick-ass cheesecake maker!

 

Now for the real fun. Write three more ads, post them on New Year's Eve. Except this time state that you're a male. I'd like to compare the results.

 

I'd second the suggestion to do it again over New Year's as a male! See how many ask how tall you are and what your job is.

 

I suppose it's okay to make fun of lonely people these days. How superior you must feel now.

BTW - $5.00 bucks for your headshot is too much by about $4.99995.

 

One guy was French, and offered to kiss me in Paris.

So that's what they're calling it these days.

 

Amusing post, though depressing. The holidays really bring out the weirdness in us. I had no idea that the demand on these sites was so high.

 

This post has been removed by a blog administrator.

 

One guy asked me if I had half a brain.

Did he ask you if you liked making love at midnight on the dunes at the Cape?

 

You should do the same ads on NYE, this time state that you are underage and see how many responses you get!

 

only 218? in LA?! what did you say that could be such a turn-off?

 

>there were quite a few genuinely funny and sweet responses, tailored specifically to the ad they were answering.

As you published three contradictory ads and you make fun of the guys who responded, I presume you weren't sincerely interested in meeting someone. Quite a few of the respondents, by your own admission, were sincere and responded in good faith.

I'm afraid I don't see the humor in that.

 

Let's just stop and think about this for a minute, shall we? Guys answering a personal ad... on Christmas eve?

I'm thinking these have to be some of the most hurtin' guys in the world, frankly. So I'm real glad you're all clever and happy about your little fun and games.

Really. Way to go.

 

Great Great Great idea.... Way to go!

 

Thank you for all your comments and the read. I'm thinking a NYE post as a man is a great idea, in the interest of fairness and entertainment. You all are awesome for reading and commenting.
PS - I agree about the kick-ass cheesecake maker!

 

Love the post. Nicole, you are a FABULOUS WRITER!!! I laughed my ass off. Smart, clever and funny.

 

WOW! What an interesting , ehm - "experiment"... I didn't take it as funny - or as making fun of single (desperate) people. Just a sad look at how people flail themselves in attempts at companionship/sex/etc. I'm certainly glad I stopped in to read this! (REALLY glad I'm not single!)

 

I think if we look at what this person is doing,
we can see the serious alienation, not just from men but from others as people. To waste all their time, and to take pleasure in their preordained-by-you defeat is cruel.

There's an implicit judgement that since the respondents are men looking for sex or love, they are somehow mockable ethically, because the fact they're looking for sex somehow makes them into criminals who "sdeserve what they get"

This shows a puritanical view of sex/love, =seeking it invalidates you as a person deserving of honesty and kindness.

It validates that men should also freely lie in sarch of fulfilling their needs, for instance lying and saying theey're not married. Would the poster agree with those actions? Perhaps she is retaliating?

If you had to face the people you made fun of, would you say, place a banana peel on the floor of a grovcery store, watch strangers fall and laugh and point saying " I got you!"

Your cruelty demeans yourself, and us all.

 

Wouldn't it just be hil-ar-i-ous of a couple of the responders read your blog and recognized themselves! Wow.... what a great idea. And now you are thinking of trolling for sad women alone at the start of the new year as an "experiment".

Bwahhhhhhahahahhh

Great way to shove someone over the edge. You are Disturbing.

 

Alright, alright. Here's a band-aid for all those anons with wounded pride. There, there, it'll be okay, there are other internet personal ads to give hope to those people. 3 test ads aren't the end of the world.

Love the post--I'll be sure to keep checking back for more great things.

 

OMG. This is really amazing! I think you should post in NYC. Lets see how crazy the east cost guys are.. LOL

 

It's posts like these that always make me too shy to approach girls and say hello.

Ladies, if you're ever spending a night at home alone wondering why no guy will ask you out, remember the last time you laughed at a post like this.

 

As Russell put it in The Impulse to Power: “Between man and other animals... One of the chief emotional differences is that some human desires, unlike those of animals, are essentially boundless and incapable of complete satisfaction... The activities of animals, with few exceptions, are inspired by the primary needs of survival and reproduction, and do not exceed what these needs make imperative. With men, the matter is different.”

One can't help feeling that there are men out there who will reciprocate in bounless measure the spirit of the ads ;-)

 

Get a life you simpering idiots. The woman said she ran three ads and reported on the results. She didn't mock them. For that matter, she didn't even say that she wouldn't be interested in the guys who wrote "genuinely funny and sweet responses, tailored specifically to the ad they were answering." For all we know she did respond to some. The only thing vaguely suggesting humor in her post was the final comment about selling her picture. If anything demeaned a few of these guys, it was the content of their communications, and the fact that a few of them sent the same response to all her ads.

As for the "way to shove someone over the edge" comment - I've got to think that someone sending out pictures of his johnson is already there. It's not like she identified the person making the post.

As for the "it's posts like these that always make me too shy to approach girls and say hello" comment, you're being your own worst enemy by reading this in the negative. If you've ever had any inclination to do the ridiculous things she reported, you've hopefully thought better of it after reading her post and considering how stupid it sounds when openly discussed. On the other hand, if you doubted that women really appreciated humorous, sweet responses that were personal, she showed you it wasn't true. You should be encouraged to know that most women like a decent guy that doesn't treat them like a commodity.

 

You should be encouraged to know that most women like a decent guy that doesn't treat them like a commodity.

You're defending this blog entry, but criticizing treating people as a commodity?

What does the writer do except use these men as raw material, with this piece as the finished product?

If I were the guy who said I made a "kick ass cheesecake," I'd be pissed seeing this blog.

Presumably he hoped his remark might spark an actual relationship. Instead this writer used it to expand her writing portfolio.

So who's treating whom as a commodity?

 

Oh please... she's a writer who decided use this to expand her portfolio... LMAO. She never once says that she's not single, and interested in any of these guys. And, let's face it, she's blogging about her life, and this adventure on craigslist, not going on the Today show for publicitity for God's sake.

 

This piece does a service to anyone thinking of posting an ad on Craigslist. There's nothing wrong with making people aware of the wide variety of respones one can expect.

 

Oh dear God, I was so looking forward to some off the wall jerk-off responding to me, and instead, Mr./Ms. (or should I say "em") "Anonymous said" responded with an almost-thoughtful, albeit incorrect, foolish, and minimally competent response. Okay, here's my respectful response to your comment.

"You're defending this blog entry, but criticizing treating people as a commodity?" YES!!! Absolutely! Did you miss the obvious??? She points out that a few jerks treat people as a commodity, but points out that others were far more acceptable because they respond to the individual, and not simply to the gender. How is that not respecting the individual who was writing the response??? Oh, sorry, I forgot that I was trying to respect your idiocy.

"What does the writer do except use these men as raw material, with this piece as the finished product?" Golly gosh, what does your comment do but use her as raw material? What does the wall street journal do but use the facts as raw material??? HOW CAN ANY GIVEN COMMENTARY COMMENT ON ANYTHING???

Dang, I almost called you an idiot again. Sorry. I forgot that our government has the right to listen to our most private conversations and detains us without cause. Given that, why shouldn’t they be allowed to limit our public conversations? Oh wait ... that's the way things are supposed to be under the present administration. I'm sorry - sad to say, you're right, that's the way things are.

If you think I'm a disgusting liberal, let's just let say I'm a (disgustingly committed, life-long) registered republican who cannot believe that what seems to be a remnant of the "German Secret Service" has become a pert of our government.

Okay, returning to the issue at hand, this blogger does nothing other than expose people who treat others as a commodity. She recognizes and respects others who do not treat people as a spam address. This is not treating people as a commodity. This is respecting people for their own person actions.

"If I were the guy who said I made a "kick ass cheesecake," I'd be pissed seeing this blog." WHY??? Just because he was notable, doesn't mean he was viewed as bad!! Indeed, we don't know that Ms. Nicole didn't have a kiss in Paris for Christmas, and celebrate New Year with that cheesecake in most every orifice that one might want to .. well, whatever. You're an opinionated freak to say she insulted him. For all we know, she’s with him now.

"Presumably he hoped his remark might spark an actual relationship. Instead this writer used it to expand her writing portfolio." And how do you know that?? Do you know that this author wasn't / isn't looking for a relationship from a decent guy??? Moreover, most commented-on 'hims' were willing to say that they were the perfect man, regardless of whether the woman was requesting a one-night-stand or a life-partner. Does that make them optimal because they'll accept any woman in the world?????

Do you deny that one's intentions are relevant or newsworthy??? If you do, I am beyond comment on your thoughts. If we cannot comment on each other, what the hell can we comment upon??

"So who's treating whom as a commodity?" At this point, you are, and sadly, she's the subject. You would deny her the right to public comment because her comments reflects on the integrity of the people who responded to her. Dear God, what happened to the respect for free speech. This wasn't some horrible tirade against a race, ancestry or gender. This was a factual recitation of what a woman received when she placed three personal ads.

Let me end where I started my first comment. Don't attack someone simply because they want to express their actual experiences (which is often known as "journalism" among the wildly liberal folk). Get a fu*king life.

 

I love reading all these comments. I was amazed by the results of the ads and am further amazed by the response to this post and the comments. Decidelyme, your comments are particularly astute because you seem able to critically think about the piece and how it was written without leaping to emotional conclusions regarding the intent. What fascinates me is how some readers put an emotional spin on the piece (isn't that called "projecting") that was never written into it.

About placing all three ads, it was an interesting check to see which guys went after what they wanted, and which guys were willing to take whatever came their way. For me, that was important to note. For other women, it may not be important at all.

An interesting note:
Many men have told me that the response rate on thier side (i.e. women responding to men's ads or women responding to a mans response to her ad) is dismally low, i.e., with out a picture posted they are lucky to get one response.

As a side note, I LOVE cheesecake. It is, IMHO, without comparison the best dessert on the planet.

 

There's at least one in Chicago.

 

I do have a soft spot for those sexy Chicagoan men...