[A barefoot 20-something white male wearing a white Run DMC t-shirt and black fitted jeans sits in a high-backed faux leather rolling chair browsing the Craigslist personal ads. An agenda, a checkbook, a receipt pad, and various unidentifiable papers lay scattered on his glass-top desk threatening to fall onto the hardwood floor with each spin of the ceiling fan. But the small study, which is accessible from his bedroom and the living room, is generally tidy with the exception of a few balled up papers that lay around a stainless steel trash bin--failed three pointers. He scans several ads within two minutes with titles like "Cute, Curvy Blonde - 21," "Sexy College Student - 18," and "Young Hopeless Romantic - 24" appearing on the screen of his Mac Book Pro. He clicks on the post entitled "23 Y/O Redhead Seeks Attractive W/M for FW(out)B Relationship - 23," reads over it twice, highlights the anonymous email link, opens his Yahoo! email account in a new tab, clicks the compose icon, pastes the link into the "To" line, and begins to type. The vibrant, green leaves of a two and a half foot tall plant shake as the window unit a/c a few feet away blows at it. The rolling chair squeaks as he nervously bounces his right leg up and down.]
David: [He types.] Hey, how's it going? I saw your ad on CL [he deletes the "CL" and types "Craigslist"], and you sound like my kind of girl. [He pauses, re-reads his two sentences, chuckles, shakes his head, looks around pensively, and continues typing.] I'm a freelance journalist with a masters in creative writing from NYU. I just moved here a few months ago. I haven't really gotten used to the change of pace yet, maybe you could help me? I'd love to hang out sometime. It's always nice to meet new people especially when you don't really know anyone--as I do not.
[He re-reads all that he's typed and adjusts the grammatical errors. He leans back in his chair and rhythmically pats his knees as he thinks about what he'll say next. He pulls his computer to his lap.]
David: [Typing...] The perfect first date for me would be a picnic by the river behind the zoo at sunset. We could get a six pack of Abita Amber, walk barefoot in the grass, and just hang out and get to know each other. I make great pies. I could bring one. Lemon merengue is my personal favorite but I'm willing to compromise I suppose. Sorry for not including a picture, but I've never done this whole Craigslist personal thing before and I just don't feel comfortable sending a stranger my photograph. I hope you'll understand. Also, if you could call in response instead of emailing that'd be awesome. I just like to know that I'm talking to a real, non-prostitute woman sooner than later. My number is 917-700-6512. Hope to hear from you soon. David.
[David closes his laptop, assesses his desk top, and shuffles his papers into a stack with no particular order.]
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