I like to talk.
You'd never have guessed huh?
Well I originally just wanted to write to someone (preferrably Stateside, because despite all of y'all spelling stuff crazily
, I didn't want a huge language barrier!!) so I put an ad of my own on a pen-pal site online.
I wasn't sure how many (if any) peeps would reply to me as there were thousands of ads put on there every week and I didn't think mine stood out particularly well. But they did reply. In droves. All weirdos. I think I must have some kind of insanity-magnet that pulls crazies to me like moths to a flame, because almost all of the replies I got were from nutters. We had the inbred-redneck-religiobot wasp fanatics, the Nigerian scam artists wanting to launder some money through my bank account and the guys who wanted to solicit some other kind of service methinks.
I wasn't hopeful. But then I got a reply from a woman who wanted me to write her son. I hadn't planned on writing an inmate, but she was nice and normal and I decided to give it a go. And for a while it was fine. I was glad to have given him a chance. And his mom suggested I write another inmate too, so I rocked up here looking for pp no. 2.
And at first, as I was ploughing through myriad adverts, many sounding the same, I wasn't that impressed. I hope that doesn't sound disrespectful to other people on the site, it's really not meant to. I just mean that there didn't seem to be anyone who I thought would be someone I would get on well with.
And then I found an advert from a guy whose advert just stuck out from so many others. He seemed normal, down to earth, honest, sincere and straighforward. We had a few similar interests/likes and he came across really well. Very personable and with a sense of humour. So I wrote to him.
And now we're still writing. Despite a few hassles from the mail room who rejected my first letter for being heavier than 1 ounce (mine normally average at least 3oz!) which led to me having to repost it bacl out in four or five separate envelopes (as is now the norm), it's all been grand!! We're getting along grand, have had some good exchanges and I'm really glad he agreed to let me be his pen pal. I really look forward to every letter he sends (10-12 pages each week, sometimes more! Am so glad he's not someone who struggles to write 2 pages!),
Funny thing is, the guy I first started writing to suddenly decided that he didn't want to write me anymore and passed on my details to some other guy on his block, which annoyed me. I didn't like the idea of just being passed on so casually and I didn't know a thing about him. Not only that, but I wasn't exactly blown away by what he had to say. So I decided not to write him. No point in starting something I wasn't completely interested in pursuing - I would only have ended up feeling as though writing to him was a chore, not an enjoyable thing.
So I now just write the one guy. And it's better that way. I don't have a whole load of free time in my ever-so-hectic life, what with work and friends and family and a social life. So it makes sense to me focus all my letter-writing energy on one person who I know I enjoy hearing from, than just knock out a few hastily written 2 pages that didn't allow me to build up a proper friendship with anyone.
Discovering this place has been a blast. I love all the advice and practical information, love the whole support thing and feel right at home ranting on at y'all....
Bex