I’m no longer a subscribing member of Chemistry.com, but I still receive their “Chemistry match” notifications.
The subjects of these emails always make me chuckle a little because I read them in a sort of commanding voice:
“This is Peggy, meet her now!”
I mean, what if “now” isn’t really a good time for me? You just want me to drop everything to arrange a “meeting” with this person that I don’t even know?
Uh, ok. Sure. Let me get right on that.
Not to mention, that exclamation point just makes it weird.
I mean, can you imagine how awkward it would be if you were introduced to someone in this fashion?
Say one of your coworkers walks over and shouts:
“This is Bill, meet him now!”
I mean, how could you not help but feel a little intimidated.
Of course you would meet Bill right now, because to do anything else while Bill is standing there right in front of you would just be weird. Especially when your coworker has just demanded it.
But when it comes to “meeting” people online, I find there’s a huge disconnect between cyberspace and reality.
Still, I do think I have a new (failed) pick-up line for the gym:
“I am Zero, meet me now!”