Pass And Speak One Another

I only had to write about Shakespeare and the million typing monkeys before I ran into something by way of Mefi that goes on forever and reads like the ravings of a sociopathic lunatic but every once in a while there is a flash of good reason and commonsense. It's up to the reader to have the patience to dreg through the loggorhoea and find those.

This is not the first time that someone's long personal ad which is more rant than bio has gone viral on the web . Check the classified ads section on page 14 for an illuminating contrast between a man's and a female's perspective on what each seeks and does not find. Reading the two side by side reminded me of my favorite quote by Henry Wadworth Longfellow

Ships that pass in the night and speak each other in passing;
Only a signal shown and a distant voice in the darkness;
So on the ocean of life we pass and speak one another, 13
Only a look and a voice; then darkness again and a silence.

There is a common theme that connects them. In each case, the poster seems to have had some ugly experieneces that makes it impossible for them to believe in the inherent goodness of human beings. And so, the long list of disqualifiers, the longer list of must haves and can't stands. They earnestly believe that someone who has been vetted by their demanding acceptance criteria will be not be a mistake, that they will have weeded out anyone who could hurt them in a relationship. You sense the deep seated loneliness, inabilty to trust, anxiety, desperation and yes they sound like they should be seeking an instution instead of a life partner.