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Even the brightest, and most task oriented among us, can occasionally be consumed by digital quicksand. Forty-seven year old Manasi Desai didn't have many bad habits, but losing hours of sleep late at night on the internet had become one of them. Bathed in the hazy blue light radiating from her computer screen beside her bed, time often seemed to bend.
What usually started out innocently enough, answering some email and checking on the minutes of the latest school board meeting, more times than not devolved into surfing through silly websites, downloading old tv shows, and worst of all, checking the inboxes of the handful of profiles she had up at online dating sites.
Having never married, Manasi constantly fended off the image of being the old, Indian-American, unmarried spinster. She'd got a job teaching right out of college, but after a few years of dealing with unruly 9th graders, she knew it was time for something more. Working on her Master’s Degree at night, Manasi eventually secured it then landed a job as an assistant principal at a high school just outside San Jose. When her boss there moved on, Manasi had impressed the right people and was promoted to the big chair at age 39. It took a few years toiling as principal for Manasi to seek an even higher post, and a few weeks before her 45th birthday, she'd won a seat on the local school board, where she still proudly served.
Even though there were degrees and commendations of every sort, both from India and America, covering the walls of her house, a house, by the way, she owned free and clear, those lonely, late night meanderings online proved there was something missing in Manasi's life, even if she truly hadn't allowed herself to face it.
Sad to say, the thought of a steady boyfriend rankled Manasi. The very idea of getting married scared her to death. While she had dated quite a bit in her 20's, and even had a few relationships that lasted over a year, nothing had really blossomed into more. By the time she was in her 30's and started her climb up the career ladder, her time, energy and capacity for dealing with bullshit had become sorely limited.
Once she'd been promoted to principal of her high school, between all the baggage the available men brought, combined with the insecurity many of them exhibited being with a woman of her accomplishments, Manasi found dating in her 40's was no strawberry field either.
For whatever reason, Manasi thought she might still stumble upon a diamond in the rough online. It was less embarrassing than having someone you know try fixing you up, and it was far safer and less time consuming as making herself up and dragging herself out to a bar. While she did attend her fair share of social gatherings through her position in the community, the last thing Manasi wanted was putting herself out there, only to get her heart squashed, or all her dirty laundry aired, by someone she had a professional relationship with.
Having made her bones as a math teacher, Manasi had always been a big fan of statistical reasoning. In an area as populated as the one she lived, she knew there had to be a significant number of attractive, single guys out there who had their lives together who she could spend some of her limited, but valuable, free time with.
The fact that Manasi refused to post a picture on any of her profiles certainly hampered the cause. Even if she'd posted the most benign, G-rated pic she could find, she would have increased the traffic viewing her profiles tenfold. Still, Manasi just couldn't bring herself to post one, knowing she'd be embarrassed to no end if someone from her circle of friends or colleagues stumbled across it.
Instead, Manasi was content to lie in the weeds, scoping out any potential match, then woo the guy when/if the opportunity presented itself. Little did Manasi know just how dangerous taking even such a cautious tact could be.
Judgment, even sober judgment, often doesn't function quite as well at 2 AM as it does at 2 in the afternoon.
Manasi had given the paysites like E-Harmony a shot, but it had essentially been money down the drain. She discovered she could meet the same litany of losers on the free sites out there. By not having a picture on her profile, she was able to sift through the cesspool with relative anonymity. If someone saw that she'd looked at their ad, at least they didn't have a face to go by. No picture = Plausible stealth.
Sort of like a woman surveying the menu of a restaurant she'd never dined, she could study the options for as long as she wanted before making a choice. That said, Manasi was hypocrite enough to curse all the guys out there that didn't post pictures of their own.
When a guy would contact her, or on the rare occasion where she made the first move, invariably his first question would always be, "Why don't you have a picture posted?", followed quickly by, "Can you send one?"
If Manasi thought there was some chemistry there, she would say 'she was just shy' and forward the guy one. If she didn't sense a potential connection, she could say something along the lines of "I don't photograph well" then drift politely off into the woodwork.
Of the guys who did post a picture, many of the photograph choices left Manasi at a loss. Whether it was a guy hiding behind a pair of sunglasses, or visibly drunk with his arm around another woman in a bar, or her all time favorite, the guy standing proudly in front of his mud-soaked pick-up with the carcass of a fresh kill slung across the hood, she developed a keen idea why many of these men had problems finding a date. Of the ones who actually seemed attractive and somewhat inviting, she learned real quick most of them were either married, or had some sort of mental defect, evidenced by the one guy who offered Manasi a chance to join him on an Aruban vacation before he even knew her name.
From a purely comical standpoint, Manasi was stunned by the never ending array of men who posted cellphone pictures of themselves standing in front of bathroom mirrors with their shirts off, often times with other items of clothing missing as well.
While most of the sites didn't allow nudity on their profiles, it didn't stop a rouge guy every now and then from doing it anyway. Most of the time someone would report the profile and it would be deleted in short order, but as the evening wore on, it didn't take long before another two or three would pop up in its place.
Even though she'd never been married, Manasi knew what a penis looked like. Some were longer than others, some fatter, some thinner, and to Manasi's ever lasting amusement, some even vaguely looked like the men they were attached to. Some she even felt sorry for if it was true what they said about the camera actually 'adding' size.
Granted there were a few she saw that looked like the guy should be working in porn, but more times than not, if it was an especially impressive picture of the guy's junk, it had been lifted from somewhere else on the net. Since she'd been online, there was one specific picture that had shown up on easily a half a dozen different profiles.
Of course, there was also the handful of men who insisted on taking their beefcake photo in front of their bathroom mirror. And of course, there was nothing more alluring than a man standing there with his pee-pee out for the whole world to see right next to a toilet seat that was up.
Very few actually had a clear view of the guy's face, so when it did, Manasi couldn't help peeking a little longer, the guilty pleasure of seeing if she'd ever encountered the gentleman in question out in public.
When one of those thumbnails of a guy showing off his wares would pop up on the periphery of her screen while she was surfing the site, Manasi would normally just ignore it. On the rare occasion she was bored, or the image seemed somehow out of the ordinary, curiosity would get the best of her. Usually a healthy dose of bewilderment or amusement would ensue, then she'd just go on her merry way.
At 2:32am, one morning in early August, Manasi Desai was overcome with a very different reaction when she gave into her morbid temptations.
Manasi had been finishing up a reply to one of the men she'd met at the site.
"A nice Hindu boy," her mother would have been pleased to hear, but given the guy was twice divorced and had a ton of back child support hanging over his head, he wasn't exactly the type Manasi intended to hitch her wagon to. Just after hitting the send button, the screen refreshed with a listing of the men who were online at that ungodly hour within a 50 mile radius.
"Oh...there's one," Manasi mumbled out loud, seeing the unmistakable outline of a bathroom mirror, the flash of a camera and a guy standing with his hand down at his crotch, holding his exposed manhood like it was Excalibur.
The guy she'd sent the email to wanted her to stay up a little longer and IM with him, but Manasi was ready to call it a night. After politely turning down his invite, Manasi shook the sleep out of her eyes a couple times before clicking on the tiny picture beckoning on the screen.
"One last laugh before bed," she told herself.
"MY GOD," were the next words out of Manasi's mouth when that tiny thumbnail transformed into a full sized ad before her eyes.
The guy in the profile was black.
What usually started out innocently enough, answering some email and checking on the minutes of the latest school board meeting, more times than not devolved into surfing through silly websites, downloading old tv shows, and worst of all, checking the inboxes of the handful of profiles she had up at online dating sites.
Having never married, Manasi constantly fended off the image of being the old, Indian-American, unmarried spinster. She'd got a job teaching right out of college, but after a few years of dealing with unruly 9th graders, she knew it was time for something more. Working on her Master’s Degree at night, Manasi eventually secured it then landed a job as an assistant principal at a high school just outside San Jose. When her boss there moved on, Manasi had impressed the right people and was promoted to the big chair at age 39. It took a few years toiling as principal for Manasi to seek an even higher post, and a few weeks before her 45th birthday, she'd won a seat on the local school board, where she still proudly served.
Even though there were degrees and commendations of every sort, both from India and America, covering the walls of her house, a house, by the way, she owned free and clear, those lonely, late night meanderings online proved there was something missing in Manasi's life, even if she truly hadn't allowed herself to face it.
Sad to say, the thought of a steady boyfriend rankled Manasi. The very idea of getting married scared her to death. While she had dated quite a bit in her 20's, and even had a few relationships that lasted over a year, nothing had really blossomed into more. By the time she was in her 30's and started her climb up the career ladder, her time, energy and capacity for dealing with bullshit had become sorely limited.
Once she'd been promoted to principal of her high school, between all the baggage the available men brought, combined with the insecurity many of them exhibited being with a woman of her accomplishments, Manasi found dating in her 40's was no strawberry field either.
For whatever reason, Manasi thought she might still stumble upon a diamond in the rough online. It was less embarrassing than having someone you know try fixing you up, and it was far safer and less time consuming as making herself up and dragging herself out to a bar. While she did attend her fair share of social gatherings through her position in the community, the last thing Manasi wanted was putting herself out there, only to get her heart squashed, or all her dirty laundry aired, by someone she had a professional relationship with.
Having made her bones as a math teacher, Manasi had always been a big fan of statistical reasoning. In an area as populated as the one she lived, she knew there had to be a significant number of attractive, single guys out there who had their lives together who she could spend some of her limited, but valuable, free time with.
The fact that Manasi refused to post a picture on any of her profiles certainly hampered the cause. Even if she'd posted the most benign, G-rated pic she could find, she would have increased the traffic viewing her profiles tenfold. Still, Manasi just couldn't bring herself to post one, knowing she'd be embarrassed to no end if someone from her circle of friends or colleagues stumbled across it.
Instead, Manasi was content to lie in the weeds, scoping out any potential match, then woo the guy when/if the opportunity presented itself. Little did Manasi know just how dangerous taking even such a cautious tact could be.
Judgment, even sober judgment, often doesn't function quite as well at 2 AM as it does at 2 in the afternoon.
Manasi had given the paysites like E-Harmony a shot, but it had essentially been money down the drain. She discovered she could meet the same litany of losers on the free sites out there. By not having a picture on her profile, she was able to sift through the cesspool with relative anonymity. If someone saw that she'd looked at their ad, at least they didn't have a face to go by. No picture = Plausible stealth.
Sort of like a woman surveying the menu of a restaurant she'd never dined, she could study the options for as long as she wanted before making a choice. That said, Manasi was hypocrite enough to curse all the guys out there that didn't post pictures of their own.
When a guy would contact her, or on the rare occasion where she made the first move, invariably his first question would always be, "Why don't you have a picture posted?", followed quickly by, "Can you send one?"
If Manasi thought there was some chemistry there, she would say 'she was just shy' and forward the guy one. If she didn't sense a potential connection, she could say something along the lines of "I don't photograph well" then drift politely off into the woodwork.
Of the guys who did post a picture, many of the photograph choices left Manasi at a loss. Whether it was a guy hiding behind a pair of sunglasses, or visibly drunk with his arm around another woman in a bar, or her all time favorite, the guy standing proudly in front of his mud-soaked pick-up with the carcass of a fresh kill slung across the hood, she developed a keen idea why many of these men had problems finding a date. Of the ones who actually seemed attractive and somewhat inviting, she learned real quick most of them were either married, or had some sort of mental defect, evidenced by the one guy who offered Manasi a chance to join him on an Aruban vacation before he even knew her name.
From a purely comical standpoint, Manasi was stunned by the never ending array of men who posted cellphone pictures of themselves standing in front of bathroom mirrors with their shirts off, often times with other items of clothing missing as well.
While most of the sites didn't allow nudity on their profiles, it didn't stop a rouge guy every now and then from doing it anyway. Most of the time someone would report the profile and it would be deleted in short order, but as the evening wore on, it didn't take long before another two or three would pop up in its place.
Even though she'd never been married, Manasi knew what a penis looked like. Some were longer than others, some fatter, some thinner, and to Manasi's ever lasting amusement, some even vaguely looked like the men they were attached to. Some she even felt sorry for if it was true what they said about the camera actually 'adding' size.
Granted there were a few she saw that looked like the guy should be working in porn, but more times than not, if it was an especially impressive picture of the guy's junk, it had been lifted from somewhere else on the net. Since she'd been online, there was one specific picture that had shown up on easily a half a dozen different profiles.
Of course, there was also the handful of men who insisted on taking their beefcake photo in front of their bathroom mirror. And of course, there was nothing more alluring than a man standing there with his pee-pee out for the whole world to see right next to a toilet seat that was up.
Very few actually had a clear view of the guy's face, so when it did, Manasi couldn't help peeking a little longer, the guilty pleasure of seeing if she'd ever encountered the gentleman in question out in public.
When one of those thumbnails of a guy showing off his wares would pop up on the periphery of her screen while she was surfing the site, Manasi would normally just ignore it. On the rare occasion she was bored, or the image seemed somehow out of the ordinary, curiosity would get the best of her. Usually a healthy dose of bewilderment or amusement would ensue, then she'd just go on her merry way.
At 2:32am, one morning in early August, Manasi Desai was overcome with a very different reaction when she gave into her morbid temptations.
Manasi had been finishing up a reply to one of the men she'd met at the site.
"A nice Hindu boy," her mother would have been pleased to hear, but given the guy was twice divorced and had a ton of back child support hanging over his head, he wasn't exactly the type Manasi intended to hitch her wagon to. Just after hitting the send button, the screen refreshed with a listing of the men who were online at that ungodly hour within a 50 mile radius.
"Oh...there's one," Manasi mumbled out loud, seeing the unmistakable outline of a bathroom mirror, the flash of a camera and a guy standing with his hand down at his crotch, holding his exposed manhood like it was Excalibur.
The guy she'd sent the email to wanted her to stay up a little longer and IM with him, but Manasi was ready to call it a night. After politely turning down his invite, Manasi shook the sleep out of her eyes a couple times before clicking on the tiny picture beckoning on the screen.
"One last laugh before bed," she told herself.
"MY GOD," were the next words out of Manasi's mouth when that tiny thumbnail transformed into a full sized ad before her eyes.
The guy in the profile was black.
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