After that vague blog post, I figure I'd better follow it up with something a little more concrete.

It's been awhile since my last blog post for a couple of reasons. Reason one is that my computer "went down" and I was enjoying the internet silence in the evening. Of course, I have a "smart" phone so I wasn't totally without. I'm just not going to write a blog entry from my phone. Silly.

The second reason is that I met someone. Yes! Even me! I met someone and it was awesome. Was awesome. Until he pulled the rug out from under my feet and dumped me based on some of his own issues.

I'm beyond the whole what's-wrong-with-me thing. I'm too old to blame myself for being too fat or not this or that, or ugly, or whatever other self-criticism might cross my mind. I'm far from perfect, of course, but I am certainly not faulty goods here. I'm reasonably attractive, smart and funny, driven, and independent. In any light, I'd be considered a "catch."

John and I met through an online dating site. I even paid for it this time around (silly me!). He was in hot pursuit of me...he sent me the classic "wink" and whatever else. I ignored him at first but then curiosity got the best of me. I figured I might as well message him back. After all, you never know what could happen.

Fireworks happened. We had a date about a week or two later and we connected. We had some mutual friends who got to bear witness to our connection and by all accounts, the sparks were genuine. We took off like gangbusters with so much in common and such a strong attraction for one another. I expressed my concerns as they came to light with nothing but positive reinforcement from him, telling me he didn't want to hurt me.

Like the idiot that I am when it comes to matters of the heart, I ate it all up. Delicious! The buzz of a new love! It's intoxicating, really.

Then came the text. TEXT. After six weeks of bliss, I am told that he is not ready for what we had going on and that he needed to deal with his own personal stuff. His explanations were legit; it came to light that he hadn't been entirely honest with me from the get-go. I won't go into details because that's hardly something I want to share here. But what I find appalling is the text.

A text. A text message halting such a brilliant time...after proclamations of falling for each other...and boom, all ended with a few texts.

I cannot express to you how rude I find this. I understand that we have many communication conveniences nowadays, but I don't accept that as an excuse to simply fire off a few pixels over the airwaves to end such an intimate connection.

I have ended things via text myself; however, only when it's been a single date and I didn't feel chemistry. In those cases, I think a text is an okay thing. While it's not the best thing to do, I find it acceptable. But barely. So I am a criminal in this sense myself.

But after this much closeness...this much bearing of the heart...this much intimacy and thoughts for the future...no, a text message is most certainly not appropriate. Not at all.

I question where the manners and etiquette have disappeared to when it comes to my generation of men.

I wonder very much if it is all just a lost cause.