Official Start Time: 9:00 p.m.
Date: 12/10/08
Official End Time: 11:30 p.m.
The words and views that are going to be expressed below reveal views that I fear are playing a bigger role in my life and the life of others as we continue to grow and experience life for what it has to offer. Please understand that the topics being discussed: dating, sex, and doubts are only my sole opinion and something that I feel requires a more open dialogue but not something that should offend or make anyone feel uncomfortable.
We Will All One Day Have To Face This Beast In Someway, Shape, or Form
The culture and society we live in has changed dramatically in the small time that most of us can remember. We live today in an age of information and technology. It doesn't take much for people to come together and share their lives amongst each other. We share more than we know: our days, our sorrows, and even sometimes our beliefs. We find ourselves at home on this internet highway of friends who are willing to listen and let us know that here they don't stand alone.
The connection that is establish can very quickly develop into something we never thought was possible. We soon find ourselves not coming for the conversation but the engagement amongst friends and potential lovers. The conversations grow away from the "how do you do" to the "how old are you". It isn't our fault if it so much fun. When you look at the friends on someone's page you can notice that the ratio of men and women is clearly opposite. Guys have more girl friends on their page like girls have more guy friends on their page. The conversations, if they do exist, are exciting none the less. We crack jokes, ask each other awkward questions, and finally do find the person who gives us the green light. They invite us to leave the crowded party and we begin to learn more of what the person is able to tell us. They tell us about their family, their work, their troubles, and the things in their life that make them happy. It almost becomes a ritual as they sign into their MSN, Skype, or AIM waiting for the lol and emoticons of the person who hears their tale with an attentive ear.
But we must live in the now and understand that what happens online should stay online. It's harder to say that when the person you know so well is only an instant message away. Our mind begins to complicate the situation and that friend becomes more than a friend. All of a sudden we have a new chapter in our life that brings new ideas and emotions to the table that we don't know what to do with. We play the game and enjoy the colorful words exchanged: the I love you, you've changed my life, and how I wish we could be together. However, that isn't enough. We want more. We want to meet this person. Tell them more than we already have and hope that the investment we have made was worth it. Here is where we hit the fork in the road and we must carefully look over the motives behind such a relationships and the potential it has.
For starters, meeting someone you met online is never something you should embrace so hastily. You can be anyone on the internet and their isn't a lot you can do to validate that the person you are talking to is real. It's hard to assume and even harder to accept. There are a lot of weirdos out there but there are those who are you like you; typing and looking for someone who thinks like they do. The most important things is protection. You shouldn't go into anything without knowing what you're getting into. Make sure that you know this person and that others know who this person is. Make sure they're actions, are cleared than their words. If excuses are more common than reasons then you're only going off assumptions that the person has given you. And I know that lovers are blind but being blind doesn't mean you need to be stupid! Be conscious of what this person wants and you want out of this relationship. If you're not on the same page, you're not on the same level. You may be surprised with their intentions and having been so blind you are now held at their mercy. I know life is tough and it seems so much easier to find Mr./Mrs. Right in a social network but the relationship you seek needs a greater foundation than text and pictures they took a week ago. Face to face contact is always the best; how that contact is made will really prove the significance of your relationship.
The things I'm trying to emphasize here is that online dating can be a very attractive process but is something you shouldn't take seriously. I know there are times when you might flirt with these people but one of two things happen: the person takes it seriously or you get involved with something you have no control over. Sexual predators are all over the internet and exposing yourself to them only increases the odds of you get hurt. The doubts you might have are understandable and the rebuttals you can present are well acknowledged, but nothing can save you once you let the person buy you that ticket and take you away on his unknown journey.
Sexual Predator's Catch Phrases
"I'll buy you a ticket to ______ ex. USA" "I want to meet you in person . . . alone" "Don't worry, you can trust me for sure" "Do your parents use this computer?" "Do you like older men?" "Are you old enough to travel on your own?" "Can you tell me were you live?" "BTW (By the Way) How old are you?"
If the person you're talking to use the any of the sexual predator's catch phrases listed above, I highly recommend avoiding future contact. Never tell anyone your personal information (ex. where you live) over the internet or telephone. Technology is a great thing but let's remember that when you have no money, didn't tell your parents about what you were doing, and decided to go off the assumptions Mr./Mrs. Right has given you; you are only doomed for failure and will only cause yourself and other more pain than you would have sacrificed with the love of moneybags26 (random screen name . . . I know)
I hope that what I have said inform some of you and made you reconsider something taking place in your life right now.
Sincerely, Hector Guzman
Date: 12/10/08
Official End Time: 11:30 p.m.
The words and views that are going to be expressed below reveal views that I fear are playing a bigger role in my life and the life of others as we continue to grow and experience life for what it has to offer. Please understand that the topics being discussed: dating, sex, and doubts are only my sole opinion and something that I feel requires a more open dialogue but not something that should offend or make anyone feel uncomfortable.
The culture and society we live in has changed dramatically in the small time that most of us can remember. We live today in an age of information and technology. It doesn't take much for people to come together and share their lives amongst each other. We share more than we know: our days, our sorrows, and even sometimes our beliefs. We find ourselves at home on this internet highway of friends who are willing to listen and let us know that here they don't stand alone.
The connection that is establish can very quickly develop into something we never thought was possible. We soon find ourselves not coming for the conversation but the engagement amongst friends and potential lovers. The conversations grow away from the "how do you do" to the "how old are you". It isn't our fault if it so much fun. When you look at the friends on someone's page you can notice that the ratio of men and women is clearly opposite. Guys have more girl friends on their page like girls have more guy friends on their page. The conversations, if they do exist, are exciting none the less. We crack jokes, ask each other awkward questions, and finally do find the person who gives us the green light. They invite us to leave the crowded party and we begin to learn more of what the person is able to tell us. They tell us about their family, their work, their troubles, and the things in their life that make them happy. It almost becomes a ritual as they sign into their MSN, Skype, or AIM waiting for the lol and emoticons of the person who hears their tale with an attentive ear.
But we must live in the now and understand that what happens online should stay online. It's harder to say that when the person you know so well is only an instant message away. Our mind begins to complicate the situation and that friend becomes more than a friend. All of a sudden we have a new chapter in our life that brings new ideas and emotions to the table that we don't know what to do with. We play the game and enjoy the colorful words exchanged: the I love you, you've changed my life, and how I wish we could be together. However, that isn't enough. We want more. We want to meet this person. Tell them more than we already have and hope that the investment we have made was worth it. Here is where we hit the fork in the road and we must carefully look over the motives behind such a relationships and the potential it has.
For starters, meeting someone you met online is never something you should embrace so hastily. You can be anyone on the internet and their isn't a lot you can do to validate that the person you are talking to is real. It's hard to assume and even harder to accept. There are a lot of weirdos out there but there are those who are you like you; typing and looking for someone who thinks like they do. The most important things is protection. You shouldn't go into anything without knowing what you're getting into. Make sure that you know this person and that others know who this person is. Make sure they're actions, are cleared than their words. If excuses are more common than reasons then you're only going off assumptions that the person has given you. And I know that lovers are blind but being blind doesn't mean you need to be stupid! Be conscious of what this person wants and you want out of this relationship. If you're not on the same page, you're not on the same level. You may be surprised with their intentions and having been so blind you are now held at their mercy. I know life is tough and it seems so much easier to find Mr./Mrs. Right in a social network but the relationship you seek needs a greater foundation than text and pictures they took a week ago. Face to face contact is always the best; how that contact is made will really prove the significance of your relationship.
The things I'm trying to emphasize here is that online dating can be a very attractive process but is something you shouldn't take seriously. I know there are times when you might flirt with these people but one of two things happen: the person takes it seriously or you get involved with something you have no control over. Sexual predators are all over the internet and exposing yourself to them only increases the odds of you get hurt. The doubts you might have are understandable and the rebuttals you can present are well acknowledged, but nothing can save you once you let the person buy you that ticket and take you away on his unknown journey.
If the person you're talking to use the any of the sexual predator's catch phrases listed above, I highly recommend avoiding future contact. Never tell anyone your personal information (ex. where you live) over the internet or telephone. Technology is a great thing but let's remember that when you have no money, didn't tell your parents about what you were doing, and decided to go off the assumptions Mr./Mrs. Right has given you; you are only doomed for failure and will only cause yourself and other more pain than you would have sacrificed with the love of moneybags26 (random screen name . . . I know)
I hope that what I have said inform some of you and made you reconsider something taking place in your life right now.
Sincerely, Hector Guzman
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