Crazy Flags

Okay, I'm sure I've mentioned that I went back onto Plenty of Fish a while ago. But I can't find the post to reference at the moment because my brain is currently yelling "DANGER WILL ROBINSON!!!"

A guy messaged me today so I checked out his profile. He was cute enough and his profile was alright. He mentioned he likes kids and animals and volunteers at an old folks home. So I sent him a message back and we started chatting, and soon moved the conversation over to MSN.

I just finished a chat with him a few minutes ago that has left me a bit shaken. There were some things he said that totally reminded me of my ex husband.

Now I *know* he's not my ex. No one on earth can ever match that extraordinary level of crazy. However, there were a few things that were exactly the same as my ex which is why I'm all freaked out right now.

The first being his inability to use proper punctuation. I know MSN is a loose form of communication. Although I may not capitalize when I'm chatting, I still use punctuation as to indicate the end of a sentence instead of leaving words to continue to fill up the message window making it difficult for the person I'm chatting with to know if I've actually finished one or several thoughts. (See, it's annoying.)

The second thing was the fact that he didn't like the way I didn't return his compliments. He's had all day to troll my Facebook (Yes, I added him. Yes, I know that was dumb.) so he's looked at every single picture I have posted. He kept saying how pretty I am, and how nice my eyes are...blah blah blah. And then he asked if I had looked at his pictures. And the honest truth was no. I was at work when he added me on FB, and I did not leave work until 8:15pm. Then I came home and started blogging and frankly pictures usually lie, so I won't make up my mind about how cute I think a guy is until I actually meet him. I told him I don't hand out compliments unless they are deserved.

The third and most alarming thing was that he said, "looking forward 2 meeting u" and I simply said, "Thanks. :)"

He responded to that with "u have trouble with sommunication dont u i said i want 2 meet u & u said thx not i want 2 meet u2"

First of all, I don't have trouble with COMMUNICATION. He has trouble with spelling and grammar. Secondly, I feel I shouldn't have to point out the obvious. Of course I want to meet him, seeing as about 20 minutes earlier we were discussing when/where we'd meet. I find it redundant and annoying to reaffirm what is so blatantly obvious. Maybe that makes me harsh, but seriously, why do I need to say, "Me too!" when I was already saying, "So, what's the address?"

Then he went on to tell me (and I'll spare you the illiteracy) that I should be open and honest with him and never hold anything back.

That, verbatim with spelling mistakes and all, was EXACTLY what my ex husband would say to me ALL. THE. TIME. about ANY. THING. we happened to be talking about.

I think I still have hundreds and hundreds of emails where he would beg me to be open and honest with him. For some reason, he equated my non statement of the obvious to me holding back and somehow being dishonest.

He would forever tell me how hot and sexy I am. I wouldn't return the compliment because I always felt as though he was fishing for them. And frankly, I just don't buy it when a guy tells me that.

Okay, I *know* I'm hot and sexy. I don't need anyone to tell me. So when a guy says that to me, I feel it's simply a means to an end. He figures I'm this self-loathing, (okay, I am) insecure (definitely not) little flower who needs to be told how beautiful she is so that she'll feel special for a brief and shining moment. And because she felt that way for a moment, she'll want to feel it again. And in order to feel it again, she will have the overwhelming urge to repay the man who made her feel special by dropping to her knees and giving him head on the spot in the hopes he will bestow that precious gift of validation to her once again. (Geez, this lack of punctuation seems to be contagious.)

That's probably a really cynical view of things but I'm pretty sure I'm right. No man compliments a woman, especially one he's known for less than a day, unless he wants some nookie.

So back to my ex and his ridiculous spouting of compliments - I would NEVER return them. Which pissed him off to no end. He would DEMAND I compliment him in return. Which of course, made me even more adamant in NOT complimenting him. The funny thing is I actually would compliment him on my own, outside of any compliments he'd given me first. But he never acknowledged those compliments. Those fell on deaf ears.

So back to this new guy - now he's demanding I return compliments. Um yeah, the warning flags and alarm bells started going off in my head.

I told him I didn't like where the conversation was going.

"were fine"

I believe that translates to, We Are Fine.

He asked if he could phone me tomorrow, and I agreed. If I get more crazy flags popping up, you can bet I'm going to block his ass from FB and MSN.