Robot romance

In this day and age of electronic communications and socializing, meeting people has really become an odd experience. People seem to lose the ability to actually easily interact face to face … especially the more they master the art of electronic socializing.

Once upon a time folk on say … Public Transit … would masterfully avoid eye contact by such methods as reading, sleeping, staring off into space, staring down at the floor, or maybe headphones and music. But if eye contact actually happened to be made … a weird phenomenon called conversation MIGHT just occur. Nowadays, there is no danger of that, because everyone is vigorously living their lives on a cell phone, tablet, or laptop. Some might actually be reading or listening to music, but most will be hobnobbing with their electronic friends and acquaintances. There is a slim chance of actually having to communicate with a person NEXT to you.

""As a result of this, the fine art of conning people has also become an electronic thing. No more that swayve and deboner gentleman smoothly getting your life savings so you can own that wonderful bridge. Now it is all done electronically. Perhaps it is an email telling you of the millions of dollars you conveniently forgot to pick up at some random warehouse (because obviously the best way to ship money is in boxes.) Or maybe it is a phone call telling you that the credit card you don’t actually have is in serious arrears and if you don’t immediately give your bank account number a friendly guy name Guido just might offer you unplanned chiropractic services. Or maybe it is simply a television commercial (because they are ALL cons). No form of communication is actually safe.

My personal favorite is chat programs. They’ve reached a new level of the conning arts … there is no need for people any more. The ne’ er-do-wells have programmed conversations that sound like you are actually talking to someone, but in fact are just robots with character. For example, I logged into Windows Live today because I though one of my friends from the other side of the world might be on (yep I do it too), and INSTANTANEOUSLY I get a message from someone who is not on my friends list and has an email address I don’t know. The conversation follows:

UNKNOWN: Just got home! you there?
ME: i am here. but have no idea who this is
UNKNOWN: HEY 🙂 whats up babe 🙂 how have u been ?
ME: great … ish. who is this again?
UNKNOWN: It’s me Adriana.. we use to chat a bit… a while back.. I had you on my old messenger! whats new hun? Where u from?? I just wanna make sure its u lol!

Now I don’t know any Adrianas. Unless you count the fourteen thousand Adrianas that email me on a daily basis (from different email addresses I might add) to "reconnect" with me. The "conversation" continued.

ME: always nice to meet an old acquaintance I never actually had
"ADRIANA": OH OK GOOD.. k listen.. im glad u messaged me cause im actually moving near ya in about a week.. i wont know a single person 🙁 i remember u lived there from when we chatted way back 🙂 are u even single lol?

Note that "she" messaged me, and I never said where I was. It goes on …

ME: i love talking to robots
"ADRIANA": I’ll make ya a deal lol….IF you help show me around and help me find a GOOD JOB…
ME: this is too funny. even if you were real, I don’t even have a job myself :p
"ADRIANA": ok WELL… lol…please dont judge me but I work for a webcam chat site since I’m soo broke…. But I dont mind giving u a VIP link t come watch for free.. since we are gonna be friends and hang out and stuf.. I have 3 free passes to give out a month so I dont mind giving u one if you PROMISE not to give it out to anyone…
ME: hahahahahahahahaha
ADRIANA: the only reason im saying u should come watch is cause i have to get off IM now and start work… oh AND u MUST help me find a new job…I hate this job 🙁 deal? ok ok I just amde this for YOU ONLY.. dont give it to ANYONE! *-)
ME: even better when the robot makes me laugh!

""And that was the last I heard from "Adriana"in that chat session. I, of course, being the simple minded man that I am, immediately went to the website, used a credit card to verify my age (because everyone knows that minors can’t POSSIBLY have credit cards), agreed to the $40 a month plus minute rate for cam sessions fee, and think I am now engaged to a cam model who may or may not be called Adriana.

You gotta love technology!