From the Mind of Meegs

I can't imagine this confession will reflect very well on me. The substance of it is that I occasionally pass through the seedier side of the 'net, and that I laugh at other people's pain. But roll with me for a second.

When my life is crappy, I find that laughter is often helpful, as I'm sure most people do. So when I need a short but intense laugh, I occasionally dial up the "casual encounters" section of craigslist. It's only good for about 5-10 minutes of hilarity before it starts to get old. But the laughs are more immediate when compared with, say, a favorite funny book or movie, both of which take at least a few minutes to get into.

For those who are unaware, the "casual encounters" section features people advertising for all manner of sexual *ahem* needs. But, fair warning, I personally like to skip any ad that's marked as containing a picture. My guess is those are more gross than funny.

I don't often laugh at the people who go for straight-up vulgarity. First of all, it's not that special. Any junior high boy can do vulgar. Second of all, I suspect that some of the vulgar ones are hoping that people will laugh along with them, and it's much more fun to laugh at the unintentionally hilarious.

My second favorite people are those who forgo the brief, straightforward "let's have casual sex" messages in favor of spinning some elaborate yarn about all the freaky stuff they want to do, which I guess is supposed to be a turn-on to would be partners in (hopefully, if their promises are to be believed) STD-free fun. The ridiculously contrived scenarios, unnecessary details and terrifically awkward prose give the effect of a manuscript rejected by Harlequin as beneath their oh-so-exacting standards. In other words: hilarious.

But my favorite people by far are those who appear to have been burned before by someone who treated the casual encounters sextion--excuse me, section--as a way to play with people's emotions. These listings are sprinkled with pathetically needy and yet undeniably hilarious pleas to "be for real" and "serious inquiries only" and "I am sincere; please be sincere as well." Or, as one particularly memorable ad remarked in closing, "Don't be a douchebag." I mean, if you can't trust some anonymous internet stranger looking for a few hours of "no strings attached" indulgence in fetishim to be kind and gentle with your feelings, who can you trust? Are they saying that sexaholism does not breed trust and mutual respect? Who'da thunk it? What is this cold and heartless world coming to?

I'm not sure, but the results are damn funny.