Craigslist New Year's Eve, Part 1 - On the Road #30

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This post is from my booktour/roadtrip I did in 2005-2006. This New Year’s Eve called in 2006, and stands in my memory as the weirdest New Year’s of my life. It made me miss the Craigslist of its glory days because this kind of thing isn’t even possible anymore.

Enjoy!

Hey y'all,

Happy New Year!

And I must say, this New Year's Eve was... different...interesting...I learned a lot.

And I walked away grateful for all kinds of reasons.

I took a break from the road trip to fly back to Florida from Denver and spend X-mas with la familia. Then, I came back to Colorado and did some snowboarding and waited for my college friend's kid brother to fix the Beast. 

I should have driven on. 

The kid brother's garage was closed on the 31st - it being a party holiday and all - and my friend already had plans. 

I should have driven to Albuquerque anyway and joined Jason for the "Crazy Sexy" Spankfest he went to. 

Y'all from GGC, you remember Jason, don't you?  Well, he's been a naughty boy...

Instead, I was in Denver with nothing to do.

Since I've become addicted to Craigslist - you can find everything from a ride to a place to live to a job to used furniture to a date to a one-night stand to...

I looked under "Strictly Platonic" for something to do on New Year's Eve.  

One post sounded promising... 

"Singles New Year's Eve Party!"

According to the post, the guy throwing the party said his date fell through at the last minute.

He also claimed that several friends were coming over.

After a screening process - because "after all, I’m inviting strangers to my house" - this guy was generous to include all of us in the greater Denver area without plans for New Year's to come ring it in with him.

Well, that definitely applied to me and it didn’t sound too complicated.

I was to BYOB, along with a snack. And of course, “Dress to Impress. No Jeans.”

It sounded all right. So after a brief and simple screening, I was officially invited. My host’s name was Mike. 

Obviously, the party was safe. I am I'm writing this email after the fact, and I can't do that from the bottom of a ditch. 

But…ahem…

When I walked into his house, the “several friends” and anybody else from the greater Denver area with no plans added up to 6 people.3 men and 3 women, including me.

Nobody wore jeans.

Nobody knew each other either. 

Except for the two best friends who came together - David and Alicia - everybody in that room was a stranger to each other.

And we had all connected through Craigslist. 

Even the best friends had met through the Internet years before in the days of Instant Messaging.

"I kept sending her instant messages because I thought she sounded like somebody I wanted to know," said David about Alicia.

"I got tired of ignoring him," said Alicia about David. "So finally I answered. That night we met for drinks and we've been best friends ever since."

"We also became pot buddies," said David. "Now neither of us smokes pot, but we like each other anyway."

So this was how my evening started. I don’t remember when exactly I thought to myself: “Oh shit!”

Disclaimer: Everybody except my host (more on him later) were decent people. Extremely lonely, but decent.   

Rick was a divorced construction worker.

He was a classic good ole boy with two daughters, and the kind of guy who would struggle to build his own social circle.

As is often the case with men like him, his ex-wife probably had taken care of the social stuff, and he was left to fend for himself without the social skills after the divorce. According to Rick, his plans had fallen through and he simply wanted something to do.  

Rick was a sweet guy and I think he was sweet on Ginger.

Ginger was a looker.

Slender, with died black hair that she wore quite well with her fair skin and blue eyes, Ginger was the only one in that room dressed to impress. She wore a slinky black cocktail dress and sexy, strappy, stiletto-heeled sandals, with rhinestone thing-ma-jigs that may have doubled as clasps.

On top of everything else, she had a southern accent. I think she was from South Carolina. She was a pretty southern belle who, I suspect, made all her decisions based on men.

And I’m pretty sure she lied about her age.

Oh, and Ginger wasn’t shy. I think she made all the men blush when we talked about our youthful years.

"When I was sixteen, I was into my church and into my boyfriend," she said. "I fucked him silly!"

Then she laughed boisterously.

Ginger had been divorced a year and a half. I think she made it all right in the divorce, at least where practicality was concerned. She had two daughters, a big house, and generous alimony.

And apparently, Ginger had no group of friends. She drove an hour and a half down to Denver from Fort Collins just to attend this little soiree.

I was grateful for Ginger’s presence there. She was the only lively personality in that room. And without her, the night would have been rough.

She was also very open.

Her divorce must have been emotionally bitter. Because Ginger shared that she decided older men were the way to go after being married to someone her age.

"I start at 40 and go up from there," said Ginger. "I'm twenty eight."

Like I said, I’m pretty sure she lied about her age. I’d put her around 35.

She had a boyfriend, but he was a long-distance beau who lived in my state – Anchorage to be precise.

Where do y’all think she met him?

On Craigslist. Where else?

I think Ginger will be okay. She had the rare talent of laughing out loud with lots of gusto at jokes that aren’t funny. She probably makes a great date, no matter how dull her man may be.

(Craigslist New Year’s Eve will be continued on Monday, October 5th)

Peace,

Montgomery