Internet Love Circa 1994

It is hard to believe that 1994 so long ago. Back then, yes, the Internet and the big WWW was very much in its infancy and development. It was nothing like today, yet, it was there. It was there mostly in text, in Unix and web browsers were new, I think Netscape was the big one, no Chrome, or Explorer. The WWW was barely around then and it was hard to access it because not many had browsers.

Yet, there I was communicating with a woman who lived in Vancouver, BC. We met online in a chat forum group. We exchanged many emails over a month or so, and it became a sort of obsession with both of us as we read into each other's words. There seemed to real chemistry in the exchange and it slowly migrated to personal issues. Because sending a photo as an attachment to an email was difficult, if not, impossible, we exchanged phone numbers and addresses. Soon, we actually talked to one another that only intensified our mutual feelings of love, what a difference a real voice made! So, we talked for hours, phone bill went into the hundreds. A few letters (as in postal service mail) exchanged with photos. So, eventually this Internet love affair was a hybrid and I made the trip to Vancouver, BC in two days from California. We met at a prearranged hotel. She showed me around the city and we talked and went physical.

I think, within a few hours of our meeting in person, we both realized it was not the love we had thought. It was infatuation of meeting someone on a new medium using Email. Whatever we thought we had felt for one another gradually went away as we spent time together. Little things that no Email or photo could reveal. Small nuances of the personality that simply did not come across in an Email, but did so in person. After a day together, we hugged but felt nothing really, just a friendship.

I drove home in a day wondering what the hell that was all about. What a waste of time and money. Internet love is often such an event. An illusion. Even today, no matter the amount of times you send video, use Email, talk on the phone, until you meet and spent time together in person, it is largely an illusion of the other person.

The little things do make a difference!