esrosedotblog

STRANGE

I got this email yesterday.

Hello (esrose),

How many MIT alums live in the Palm Springs area?

How long have you
been in the Palm Springs area?

I am planning to relocate to Palm Desert for a new job and found you
through MIT Alumni listing for the Palm Desert area. Is
there an alumni organization in Palm springs?

Strange. I don't get these ever. I am not an attractive alumnus. No history other than my name in the register and the recent counselling thing with prospective students.

So I wrote back.

1. Not many as far as I can tell. I am the only one they could find, two years ago, to be an Educational Counselor member. I am glad they asked and I enjoy it but I had the impression that there weren't a lot of options. There was one other guy in his 80's who was doing it. Don 't know his present status.

2. I've been here 12 years from Boston. Very nice place to live. The snow is all 5000 feet above us.

3. No alumni organization that I know of. Everything is out of LA where there is a fairly active group.

Now, this is just my experience.

There could be a hundred alumni and a thriving club but I doubt it.

I have never actually looked into it. I'm afraid I haven't been a very diligent alumnus.

All Best

E

I was trying for a cordial but cool response. I don't want to be an asshole but I don't want to have people presuming that because we went to the same school over a 40 year period (he is '95) that there is any basis for friendship.

Then a new email today from my new good friend.

[no hello esrose]

I assume that a personal car is the main mode of transportation for
individuals. What options are there for public transportation in Palm Springs and Palm Desert?

What options are there to travel between Palm Springs and Los Angeles?

For example, if I wanted to make a weekend trip from Palm Springs to
Los Angeles, what do you suggest?

Now this is weird. Why wouldn't he know this already? Why doesn't he ask the people he is going to work for? What work is there for an MIT grad out here anyway? Doesn't he know how to Google? And so on.

It smells a little like those emails from Africa. This is exactly how con games start. Confidence.

John says that I am being suspicious.

Yes.

I started to answer this email and then decided that, no, I wouldn't.

This cat will have to figure out that I am not a very likely friend before he figures out how to get transportation between the two cities.

The answer here is that, of course, you fucking need a car. This is Southern California.

You might need two. We have three.

But I am not going to get into that.

My current reaction is just not to answer. Even if I wrote to him to piss off it would be a step towards a connection.

Labels: life