Good Question

Topazz was "wondering about those of you who ARE happily married or in a good and loving personal relationship, yet post here on a very regular and daily basis. Does it take away from time you could be spending with your spouse or significant other? Or do you look at it as you do any of your other interests or hobbies, as a place that enhances your life and makes you a more interesting person?"

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Subject: Good question.
From: Ozymandias1
Date: May 13 2005 7:39PM

Mrs. Ozy goes to bed earlier than I do, and I usually check in here after she hits the sack. She reads my posts infrequently but always wants to know what's going on. She is usually disappointed that I no longer spend as much time in the political chat rooms because that is where her interests lie and she's curious as to whether she's the only one who watches the news in complete befuddlement.

We spend all of our joint waking hours together when neither is working. This may sound pathetic, but other than her, I have no friends, only acquaintances. Many of the posters here have the potential to become friends if I were willing to give up any time with my wife (I'm not). She knows that I spend some time here nearly every day before I go to bed and she knows that I really like it here. If the opportunity presented itself I don't believe she would object to a Fray get-together.

I'm not sure I would want to. This is truly a "meeting of the minds" and no matter how much I would fight it, I know that my opinion of a poster would be affected by the knowledge of what they look like, their mannerisms, speech pattern, tone of voice, and so on. I assume I would suffer the same. It doesn't mean all would be less in my eyes from having met me, just that all would be different and I'm happy with the relationship we all have. I have given this a lot of thought and have yet to arrive at a true decision, but that's the way I'm leaning right now.

I think we all might have better relationships if we could meet in the virtual world and get to know each other's minds first. This would certainly be a boon for fat chicks and ugly men. It wouldn't make a dramatic difference in frequency of getting laid, but could help and definitely would create some relationships that would not occur otherwise. And yes, that is shallow. It is also honest and realistic.

Ozy