Boleh berkenalan..?

I've been reluctant to bitch about this because.. well, I'm Malay too. In my younger days it seemed to be a romantic thing to say. Yeah.. like in the movies la. Today? EWW!!!! Please la. So poyo... I do like to meet new people, but meeting new guys online in this day and age is like walking through a minefield. I think I'll make it a rule that any new male friends must be introduced by a legitimate acquaintance, at the very least.

I really dread it when a guy starts chatting with "boleh berkenalan". More often than not, he's married and looking for a bimbo to fool with. Especially when the wife is dalam pantang. Guys, please don't forget who got her in that state in the first place... Otherwise, he's a total freak who thinks he has the right to demand that you give him your phone number after only 5 minutes. God knows what else he's going to demand next!

Even the nicer ones seem icky to me. Like.. why do you need to 'berkenalan' with total strangers when you could spend the time online connecting with yr spouse, yr children, yr colleagues, neighbours, family..? I really don't get it..

If, by some chance, you come across a single guy, he would have this long list of requirements for you to fulfil. You must be within a certain age range, be drop dead gorgeous, a good (as in submissive) girl, bla di bla... Have you ever watched "Date Patrol"? Usually it's the girl who has this problem - having a list of attributes for the 'perfect guy' and scaring them off with their 'interrogation'. Well, this is the exact opposite. Despite the opening line, it seems to me that there's no real attempt to look under the surface. They're just checking off a list of must-have attributes before the final interview. And if you fail, the doors slam shut. No more conversation, no more friendship. You strike out.

Why can't they just communicate like normal adults, for goodness sake? I do have a pretty interesting life, you know; I'm not some debutante at the match-maker's to choose from. Talk to me long enough and you'll know me pretty well. There's no need to bombard me with 20 sensitive questions up front! Learn a little subtlety, for Pete's sake.

And the things they can say...

One guy actually went (yes, in capital letters) - 'KENAPA TAK KAWIN LAGI'?? after 3 questions. Excuse me!! As if it was something I wanted to happen.. Totally insensitive. I lost it and called him a jerk. He said "he knew my type". I doubt it. We never even got that far in our 'berkenalan' session.

Once, I was chatting with this guy I kind of knew from my uni days. It was OK until horror of horrors - he asked me to belanja him that night! OH MY GOD!! Belanja him?? That night? What? Drop everything for the dubious honour of belanjaing someone I barely knew?? I know it was a joke - something you said to your equally pokai coursemates when you were students. I do expect the boys to behave like men now that we're working adults, thank you very much.

Someone pointed out that Skype was not a place to 'cari jodoh', but i really don't think it's any excuse to make it a place to suss out sluts either. I need it to keep in touch with close friends and family; and if anyone wants to make friends, they should mean it. That's all I ask.