welcome to the cheap seats

I admit it, I cannot help myself -- I always end up watching Dateline's To Catch a Predator. It's a horrible train wreck and a sad commentary but damn; why do these people never learn? Every time they do these stings several people show up, not one or two, but they end up arresting several.

I am not about to criticize meeting people on the Internet. I met my first husband on the Internet and when I first graduated from college (dear lord, 12 years ago) I used to visit chat rooms. Most of them were lame. People only want to talk to you about hooking up, or cyber sex. As a woman going into a chat room, it hardly ever took more than 5 minutes before several windows would pop up for private chat.

The Internet offers an interesting experience. There was a New Yorker cartoon that I had a postcard of for years that I thought was hysterical. There are 2 dogs, sitting at a computer -- one saying to the other "On the Internet, nobody knows you're a dog." It's so damn true. You can reinvent yourself at any given time to be anything you want. I used to think it was hilarious. However, I was 24, I knew what it was about. I had the experience to know when it was a good idea and most of the time didn't meet anyone in person. I can't imagine talking to someone who identifies themselves as a kid; kids do not have the experience or the ability to judge a situation for safety. Even if you talk to them because you think they are lying or anything else -- but to SHOW UP AT A HOUSE? Drive hundreds of miles?

Are they really that many people (and most of the people who show up are men) who want to have sex with kids? Really? Dear lord. Are they so lonely or immature that they cannot handle dealing with people their own age? Is it severe lack of confidence?

It amazes me how they all have the same excuse -- "I was checking on the girl/boy because she was alone," "I was going to teach her how dangerous it can be to meet people online" Some of them even mention seeing the show before. I also love the ones who claim they were "seduced" by the kid. Lovely. You could be sitting next to these people on the bus.

Yeah, I am ranting, I shouldn't try to post while the tv is on.