Missed Connections

Recently I have become obsessed with Craigslist.com's "Missed Connections". This probably is largely due to the fact that every time I walk into a grocery store, public library, or gym I am convinced that every person that makes eye contact with me is in love with me. Somehow in less than a second, simply based on my good looks and my swagger this poor gent is ready to throw his life away to run away with me.
So I sashay through the frozen food aisle with an imaginary gaggle of lovestruck boys in my wake, knowing that they are incredibly turned on by the fact that I just picked up a 6pack of Heath Bar Crunch Klondike Bars.

As much as I try to poopoo and shy away from the rom-com genre (romantic-comedy), it has definitely helped define Fate for me. Fate could be getting ready to walk outside of your house, and then turning around to realize you forgot to turn off the light in the basement. As soon as you walk back inside you hear a CRASH! and someone has dropped a piano directly where you would have been standing, had you not remembered to turn out that basement light.

That is definitely an example of Fate. That is not the image that that word conjures up in my head, however. For me, Fate is sitting next to a handsome stranger on the 47 bus and realizing that he is thumbing through a dog-eared copy of Catcher in the Rye, your favorite book. Fate is going out to drinks with a friend who randomly sees a person from their eighth grade gym class that you can't take your eyes off of. And, recently, Fate is "Missed Connections" on Craigslist.

I once read a "Missed Connection" that was about me. It ended up being a disappointment. But, for the short amount of time that it took me to read it, I felt awesome and special and wanted. I had no desire to talk to the person who had written it, because invariably this person would be a disappointment. A "Missed Connection" authored with you in mind can be a real day-maker. We all know what a day-maker is. You are walking through life feeling lousy, and an old Vietnam Vet in a wheelchair will say, "Well aren't you just the purdiest thing I've seen all day". While you don't have any desire to strike up a conversation with this man, you will think of him all day because he made your day. Day-maker.

I consistently think about being a day-maker. Last night in the liquor store I passed a woman who had a sour expression on her face. I told her that I liked her earrings and her shoulders relaxed, she smiled and she didn't look as villainous for a brief moment. Let's be honest here. The woman's earrings were hideous, but I think that those minute details are basically irrelevant when we are talking about day-makers. "Missed Connections" are the ultimate day-makers because someone actually has to mean it.

I am completely obsessed. I'm enthralled. I'm enraptured. I think I'm mostly inspired and hopeful because of this tiny little link in the jungle that is the world wide web. To be fair, "Missed Connections" is the equivalent of shouting into space or shining a flashlight into a black hole. The chances that the guy who smiled at me when we were both buying milk two days ago will ever read my post, are slim to none. (If I were a gambling woman I would probably put all of my money on none). But...I don't gamble. So I'll keep reading these "Missed Connections", and I'll keep posting mine, and one day maybe I'll get some good old fashioned Hollywood Fate.