Miss OstrichThe craigslist
Missed Connections section is one of my great guilty pleasures.
If you haven't looked through them, you must; they're entertaining, heart-breaking, sick, and sweet all at once. People post small accounts of missed chances at love or seeing someone briefly that they wished they had the chance to talk to, and hope that maybe, somehow this person will read what they say and contact them. For example:
(Brooklyn)
"You had real short hair and gorgeous eyes but I didn't want to look at you even though you sat across from me in the front car. Shy dude on the train because the lighting sucks.Anyways, if somehow you read this, let's get a coffee or something."
I don't believe they work, however, so as a test, I put up my own fake Missed Connection. Here's what it said:
"I saw you on the Queens bound G train last night. You were wearing a red plaid shirt, black square frames, and you were holding a book, but I couldn't make out the title. I sat across from you, but I couldn't get the nerve up to ask you what you were reading. We both got out at Metropolitan, but I lost you in the crowd on the way to the L. I'd like to get to know you better...maybe share a vegan cupcake or two."
I go to school in Brooklyn; this describes every 18-30 year-old hipster in the area. A day passed, and there were no replies. After two days, I forgot about my experiment. Three days later, I got this little gem in my inbox:
"Hello. I was wearing a red, plaid shirt and reading Pynchon's 'Gravity's Rainbow' Saturday on the G train. Were you wearing a blue dress with a floral print? If so, I believe that was me."
Seriously! I was very surprised. At first I thought, "Oh good! So there's hope for the people who post their missed connections." But then I got a little less excited. My ad was fake and someone responded to it convincingly, even though it didn't actually happen. So he's probably lying, which means Missed Connections has failed. I'd still like to believe the ads are real and not everyone who posts or responds are lying (unlike me).
I want to hear some success (or funny) stories from Missed Connections. Do you ever read them? Have you ever posted or found one that could have possibly been for you?
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Comments (31)
Unless it actually happened. Like you said, you described what would be a wide variety of people. It could have happened. lol
I've seen missed connections work. It hasn't worked for me yet though. I have done two of my own little 'experiments' but I never got replies. However, I guess people like how I wrote because I did get people saying I sounded cute how I described the guy. They said I sounded love-struck. lol!
I was really just describing two cute guys I walked into. lol
I know someone who realized that a missed connection someone wrote about was actually her. Crazy crazy. I don't think she ever contacted the guy though. Wonder what would've happened there. But yeah, I totally read those too :>
I sometimes read missed connection purposely. i think its human.
That's so funny lolÂ
hrm the question was.. were YOU wearing a blue dress with floral print? :O
@kristentsuii@xanga - lol, i totally want to know the answer to that, too.
This sounds so romantic but at the same time it's rather dangerous.
I'm confused... You put up a fake missed connection to see if it would work? What were you expecting? That you would get a response... or that you wouldn't?
And, for a moment, let's consider the guy who responded. Given how long it took, he may very well have been as you described... and was surprised that someone noticed him. Let's face it - he might've even been noticing a girl in a blue dress with a floral print... and trying to work up his own nerve to say something.
So... when he sees a missed connection like this - ahh... it must, for him, be fate.
As far as I can tell, merely from the evidence provided, he was honestly looking through the section. Sure, it might've been just on a lark... or maybe he reads it faithfully - who knows?
The point, though, is that he *did* respond to the ad. He didn't know it was fake. And he might, very well, be one of the non-fake people on there. After all - it's the ads themselves that are just as likely to be fake as the people responding to them... your own example, sadly, showing that to be the case. :-/
[No, I'm not beating you up about posting a fake missed connection. But, having done so and not really having a clear, as far as I can tell, idea as to what you were hoping to achieve... it seems, well... cruel... to show the one response you did get and use that as justification for saying that it's all fake. I, personally, take it the exact opposite way - you found a "true" person there, potentially, who really was hoping to connect with someone. And, as you weren't really there in the first place, he's going to be disappointed.]
I've been avidly reading Missed Connections for months hoping someone writes about me.
Meanwhile I've never heard any success stories.
lol
@bcronin@xanga - I agree with you
why would they be lying? you yourself said it describes the majority of people.
i tried it once out of curiosity (saw a cute guy in tim hortons!) and got like... 5 replies from guys who thought they were that guy, and obviously weren't and were looking for something uh, other than just coffee.
I read a "missed connections" success story in a Seventeen magazine once. It was really cute and the guy actually took the time to make a cute little cartoon drawing of what the girl looked like. SHe wasn't your average girl, a little on the bohemian side, so when one of her friends saw the picture and read the description, she let her know immediately.
Anyway, I'm sure there are a few success stories out there. REAL ones.
ugh, don't trust the internet. most of those dating sites users/whatever are liarfaces.
hahaha thats greattt
I know you said you faked it, but I wouldn't believe your missed connection ad. It just screams fake because of its insincerity.
It's funny how we're so interested with these one in a million long shot chances at love.
Poor guy. What if there really was a guy wearing a red, plaid shirt on the train who saw a girl he liked wearing a blue floral dress? There wouldn't be much to gain by lying, except maybe some mace in the face...
I read them religiously because we have some really funny ones in my city...
like REALLY funny ones...
and actually I've posted in there once and pissed a couple people off...I had a guy almost run me off the road because he was playing with his cell phone, so I hit my breaks, he realized I was there, and we both kept going, two minutes later he cut me off...I remembered his very easy license plate number and put a missed connection up on craigslist in hopes that his high school butt would learn from it.
It basically said "Thanks for the "missed connection" when our cars almost collided today because you weren't paying attention to what you were doing"
This will be a tad bit naughty...
I read one where the guy wanted a woman to walk into a hotel room [which they'd discuss later] and basically get on bed. They'd have sex, but he'd play Mario and he wanted the woman to orgasm right as he wins; fireworks go off, yada yada. I don't know if it was real or fake or he just wanted to be funny, but it stuck with me.
The funny [and creppy] part is that's how my friend was conceived xD [I found this out after I told him about this wacky ad]
Pretty cute, but it's creepy at the same time...
i think it could have happened. I mean like you said you described alot of people and maybe he did sit on that train and saw a girl. theres alot of girls out there lol. but i dont know. ive never read this section until this post and now im reading it and its...so sad. i mean, some of them are just...silly. like seeing a girl running through the park. chances are she didnt notice you and wont be searching through these ads. but others are more plausible like you tallked to them for a minute at a club then something happened and you never got to ask for their number. because that means they talked to you and DID notice you and might be looking for you too.
That guy you described could have been wearing a red, plaid shirt & reading book while on the G train... because you did say that a lot of the people in Brooklyn could have been wearing that, so there is a possibility.
youre dirty
well, spring is here and love is definitely in the air...!!! i've posted a message on http://www.chancedit.com/... i think it's fun and yeah probably a long shot but YOLO!