I think I'm right.

I've had this theory all along, that meeting online is the opposite of meeting someone in one of those real-life situations. You know the kind, where you're at an event and just start talking to someone and then you laugh and look at him thinking, "wow he's cute and I'm having fun and maybe I'd like to go out with him." You're just being yourself, talking about whatever, and enjoying him, realizing that you could really continue to enjoy him and you'd like the chance. Contrast that with serial browsing, sending a wink or coming up with some clever email, all the time knowing that he might not write you back or you might say something he might misconstrue or maybe he's just a player and you don't fit his ideal-woman scenario.

I had one of those real-life experiences tonight and it was good. I went to a mixer put on by WOW's own Bev to encourage singles to travel or at least meet a new travelling companion. She did a great job, stayed perky and on-target, even was kind to the one really, really annoying guest. I really wanted to go but my day got out of hand and I almost didn't make it but I really wanted to support Bev and maybe meet another nice women to invite to WOW. I did go up to the one guy she had tried to set me up with and found him to really quite odd, not in a good way. Nice, but too odd. So I left and the cute Australian guy was waiting near my car and asked "Are you going on the cruise?" I said yes, and he said, "do you like jazz?" and I said yes and he said, "Let's go listen to some." And I said yes. It was soooooo easy, just being there and being real and not worrying about how he might take something wrong and not return my email. He was right there in front of me, smiling and talking about the things he likes to do and I thought, "I'm right, this is the authentic way to meet someone new." I was happy that he showed interest in me, I enjoyed his company, and I felt good about the whole experience.

Who knows where this might go but I thought, this guy would be good for me, no matter how long it lasts. He's upbeat, has lots of interests that would be fun for me, he's intelligent, and clearly he's fun. It just felt good, quite different from the online browsing, waiting, thinking too hard about what to say - I was just me and it was good. I vote for more real-life encounters.