If I remember correctly, the subject we were writing about was about visual rhetoric and when a picture spoke to you in a certain way...or something like that.... Anyways, the first free write.
Many times in my life, before I found my wife. I found myself on dating websites. It was a pass time of mine while I was single. Mostly it was a humorous pass time. Laughing at some of the ads. Rarely did I send any messages and very few times, did I actually meet someone from there, and only twice did it land me in a relationship.
After the first failed relationship from online, and a few scary dates, I found myself browsing the ads, laughing at all the weirdos, when a particular one sent me a message.
One quick detail about the site I was on, it limited results to close to your area. I was living in Little Rock at the time when someone massaged me from Ft. Smith. She was an elementary school teacher who liked to skinny dip. The pictures were enough to make me laugh.
But then I saw it. In the “recommended” ads, above her profile was a face in all white makeup, dark red lipstick, and funky hair. The image was provocative and very inspiring. It brought to mind the image of a geisha and a Native American combined.
The ad itself was horrible, written in all caps. I sighed to myself, thinking a about how disappointing it was to have such a beautiful picture ruined by an all caps ad. But somewhere inside the ad, the words spoke of a decent intelligence. I looked at the picture again, into the eyes of the woman and took a chance. “Who knows, right? Maybe she could be worth my time…. Only one way to find out.”
I was engaged for the first time in my life after just a couple of months to that woman in the makeup. Despite a bad ad, the picture persuaded me to take a chance. Someone willing to do a makeup that can speak so much in a glance must have an interesting soul. And when I look at my wife, I’m glad I took a chance to meet her.
