The Troll (Another Dreaded Parental Hook-Up)

My father had mentioned that a business associate of his had a son around my age that was single. He gave my father his e-mail address. My father, possibly with previous incident, knew better than to hand out my contact information.

When he told me what little he knew about the guy - all positive of course, I figured - what did I have to lose by e-mailing him. With the new leaf that I've turned recently, in being the one to approach the man, I thought this would be good practice AND if he turned out to be an okay guy - great!

The e-mail I sent from work on a Friday (after consulting with Cut & Dry, an online dating friend of mine, as I'm only a novice at writing an introductory letter), included an okay picture of me and I asked him to send one of himself as well.

Not to sound conceited, but I am quite photogenic most of the time. In fact, sometimes when I see pictures of myself it's hard to believe I can look that good in real life. However, I really sent an average looking picture to this guy.

He immediately responded to my e-mail but I was very busy at work to reply back. By Monday, he had written a second e-mail and attached a picture.

It was atrocious!
He looked like a troll without the hair (receding hairline, big ears, pointy nose, squinty eyes)!

You can imagine that I was not anxious to write back but I finally did a few days later. Keeping it very brief and staying polite. At this point, I was afraid to lead him on any further.

Again, his response came within the hour. Then another e-mail later in the day and another the next day. I hadn't responded to three e-mails before he started asking for my number!!!

This may sound superficial, but I just couldn't give this guy a chance.

Having to come up with the CLOSING letter, I consulted many friends. They offered lots of advice, but finally I settled on some lie about getting serious with a guy that I have been casually dating.

He wrote back!

If your parents are trying to set you up with a guy that they haven't seen and don't have a picture of, don't date him New York!