Most of my titas who live in the Philippines are still a little paranoid about meeting people online, and I have a cousin who is was so paranoid about chatting online that when I told her I chatted with an old friend from grade school, she asked me, "sigurado ka na sya 'yon?".

I don't have problems meeting people online. I mean, ano ba talaga ang pinagka-iba meeting and exchanging numbers with someone you meet in a bar, bus stop or online? The first and last time I entered (tama ba yung term na 'yon, entered?) a chat room, MTV Asia's chat room to be exact, was 2002, and I am glad to say that after all these years I am still in contact and friends with people I met there. Some new friends I met via blogging and some via being a fanatic, haha. I know the full name, mobile number and home address of more than half of those people and they also know mine (if we don't live in an apartment house, hindi ko alam kung ibinigay ko ang home address ko, living on the 2nd floor of an old but nice building can give you that feeling of being safe kasi eh). And yes, I've met some of them in person, and have not met others only because we never had the chance to.

Now, what I'm paranoid about are text mates, and a stalker I had back in high school has nothing to do with the paranoia. Yesterday, I received a text message that reads "gandang gabi" or something like that. I checked on who the message was from, I was not surprised when I saw a couple of numbers instead of a name. Kasi hindi naman lahat ng kilala ko na alam na yung Globe number ko, naka-save na sa akin yung number nila. When I asked who the sender was, the texter replied na na wrong send daw sya. Bigla ako napa-isip, ako na-wro-wrong send lang with people na naka-save na sa phone book ko. I mean, come on. If it was a voice call via an analog phone, maiintindihan ko pa, but a text message... Hmmm.

Someone I know (more like, someone my mum knows) is getting married before May ends. She's a single 40+ year old and he's a couple of years older (if I'm not mistaken), a father, and a widower. Nothing extraordinary. Except that they live in 2 different continents and well, they have never been together, as in they've never seen each other in person pa. They used to be text mates, and ayun, after a year, more or less, of exchanging text messages and phone calls every now and then, they fell in love and they decided to tie the knot. They're both going back to the Philippines next week, to finish and check how the wedding preparations are going, and well, to see each other for the first time. I must admit, there's something romantic about first times, but... some things I just don't get.

I have no problem with people who fall in love with their text mates, someone they met online, in a bar or at a bus stop. Seriously, I personally know people who met their partner online and one of my cousins met his ex-girlfriend online. And that's my point, meeting and having a (romantic) relationship are two different things. Being friends, falling in love, even starting a relationship, with someone you haven't touch or had an eye-to-eye moment with (and do not know how he/she smells! Heheh!), I can understand, PERO to marry or move-in with someone you haven't touch or had an eye-to-eye moment with (and, again, do not know how he/she smells!) is something my young mind can not understand. But then again, maybe my friend's right, maybe I'm just being too distrustful and still too young to understand things like this.

Too early in the morning, I didn't have the power and didn't really want to contradict my friend, so still half asleep, I just agreed on what she had to say. Taking a break from talking about her ex-boyfriend, she started to talk about, well, love.. On how she understand why people do things that others cannot and probably will never understand, things that are totally irrational. And how everything will eventually turn out well. And, according to her, how all these things are possible thanks to the power of love.

But honestly, can love really be that powerful?


P.S.
Sorry, I tend to over-analyse everything whenever I'm in this state.

Labels: Buhay ng may Buhay, Crazy world, Friends, Silly You, That's Amore