My life lately has been nothing short of interesting, and my browser history matches that. Some of my recent searches make it look like my college major is Craigslist. With the change of the seasons, meant the change of scenery, meaning buy and selling and googling all the in's and out's the Craigslist world.
And that's exactly how I found this internet gold mine.
I had spent a decent part of my life worried that real love was dead. After growing up rewatching my favorite romantic fairy tale, "You've Got Mail" I longed for a world without the complications of social media and the internet to help me find my soulmate.
But alas, the internet has a secret door: The Craigslist Missed Connections Page.
Simply type into your browser "Craigslist Missed Connections (your city)" and you are guaranteed to access and unlock a virtual goldmine of secrets, missed meetups, looking for love, and heartfelt stories. Some people use this page as therapy or even as a blog.
My college town offered this short clip in this week's missed connections:
"I was sad to see you left your work before we could really exchange info I miss our morning flirtatious chats
I was slightly younger than you
Reply back with some info only id know an I'll give more clues
Hoping this find you out there C!"
Essentially in this situation, if you were "C" and you were curious to whether your favorite local gas station employee missed seeing you, you could simply log on to Craigslist and reply to their ad.
This example is much more simple and flirtatious than some other ads found from this week's postings. One individual even went so far as to tell the in-depth story of his parent's untimely death and how he misses his ex-lover but doesn't want a response to his ad, he just simply wants to publish his feelings - I mean, don't we all?
A second ad comes from a heartfelt potential soul mate at the local grocery store, it reads:
"Hey man,
I (a male) was in Hy-vee the same time as you, around 8pm Monday, May 13th. I seen you looking at me for a longer than usual duration of time in the parking lot, and again in the store. I know it sounds crazy, but I could feel my heart skip a beat when we made eye contact. Anyway, if you are interested in me, please keep reading..."
The post goes on to leave clues about the individual being targeted by this ad and the author of the ad as well, to verify it is a real match and not just someone taking advantage of the situation.
As with all things in life, I would suggest and highly recommend extreme caution when utilizing this platform. The stories are intriguing to sit down and read, especially when you begin typing in other cities for fun, I.e. New York, Los Angeles, Denver, or New Orleans. It can be like traveling through your keyboard, each city shows a new culture or language, as well as makes you feel connected to the individuals. writing the posts, but safety is a priority and you should never leave personal information exposed on these ads.
There is a sense of innocence, mixed with perhaps slight desperation, that makes these posts so charming.
Imagine making eye contact with someone at the store and being so intrigued by their grace that you post an ad hoping to hear from the love of your life via email - it sounds about as close to a "You've Got Mail" movie as my cliché heart will experience in this modern age.
The missed connections page can be summarized quite simply as the exact place you would go if you were responding to an ad for someone who infects, loves piña coladas and getting lost in the rain.
The next time you find yourself bored and lonely, swap out a scroll through social media and explore the missed connections section of Craigslist. Perhaps your true love is out there waiting to hear back from you.
