I wonder how many people can say that someone else has dressed up as them for Halloween.

And she did such an excellent job! Not just the name tag and the piercings, but also my ubiquitous earphones. ( ^ _ ^ )

In another photo she was carrying one of my now common accessories, a bike helmet.

For those who really know me, the name tag says, “Don’t mind the giggles.” So perfect.

She also had a note pad to write “secret things.”

I understand that there is a stigma around it, but I think that this stigma is fading, and I want to do my part by “coming out” as having met someone this way to help the stigma fade further. I also think there are some generational differences with regards to meeting people this way, such that older people are more prone to be embarrassed than are younger people.

I did a quick poll of some friends over IM asking them:

Thoughts?

My friend says, “So-and-so agreed with me that its embarrassing to have met someone on Craigslist and tell your friends that part.”

And this is what they said:

M, 21: “Nah it’s just funny.”

M, 28: “I think most people would be. I don’t think I personally would be embarrassed though.”

F, 21: “Nope. Not embarrassed.”

F, 22: “I met my roommate on Craigslist, and I’m embarrassed. I lucked out, but there are some weirdos out there.”

F, 23: “Yes it is embarrassing. My fiancee and I met on LiveJournal and we never tell people that, because it sounds like we were two lonely, fat, antisocial nerds who found each other on the Internet. Not the best light in which to paint yourself.”

F, 28: “Yeah that’s embarrassing.”

F, 28: “I think its a tad more embarrassing than MySpace or Match.com, but the bf (22) says the order of embarrassment goes: MySpace, Craigslist, then Match.com type sites.”

F, 30: “Well, I agree with you. More and more people meet online and I laugh at people who are not savvy or smart enough to meet people online. I almost refuse to meet people elsewhere these days. I met this one shrink online once, and he told me that smarter populations use the Internet to meet because we know it’s easier to filter that way.”

F, 31: “I don’t think I’d be embarrassed, but i don’t embarrass all that easily. One could also be embarrassed, not because its Craigslist specifically, but because you had to advertise for friends. But I don’t think there’s much of a stigma to matchmaking sites anymore.”