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Heading to D.C.

Alessandro Gottardo.planeI’m flying to Washington tomorrow to meet with leaders who are working for a pathway to citizenship for millions in the U.S. aspiring to become Americans. This will be my first time lobbying on Capitol Hill and I’m really excited. I might not be able to post for the next few days. But I’d love to continue hearing from you (and I will respond!)

From the sublime to the pathetic, I got my first wink from Match in almost a week, and it was from a man who had this to say in his very sparse profile:

If you pay rent please do not date me. I am only dating women who own a house.

 Illustration by Alessandro Gottardo

Discussion

27 comments for “Heading to D.C.”

  1. Richard says:

    This sounds promising. Write back that you just got refinanced because the mortgage balance is more than the house value, and you’re looking for a committed relationship with a guy who will move in and help with the payments.

  2. Jalina says:

    Have fun in DC! Hope your efforts pay off!!!!

  3. Heather says:

    Good luck in DC…sounds like an amazing experience! Can’t wait to hear how it goes.

    That guy on Match sounds like an idiot. Ugh.

  4. Stacey says:

    I love DC – have fun!

    As for the guy, well…the last time I heard about a man who only wanted to date a homeowner, he was looking for a sugar mama. You know, someone who had a place where he could crash when he couldn’t hang onto his own place, someone who had money so she could just hand over $5,000 to fix his 15-year-old piece-of-crap economy car, someone who would pay for their dinners, movies, plays, concerts, etc., when they went out on dates. I wish I could say that she was sensible enough to move on, but she wasn’t – he milked her for several thousand dollars before he found someone even more generous than she is. My friend was devastated when he left. All I wanted to do was shake her and yell, “WAKE UP!”

  5. Noelle says:

    I know there’s some snarky comment to be made to that guy, it’s just not coming to me.

    Stacey; your friend is not unusual. When I was a nurse, I was amazed at the losers who always had a woman, no matter how drunk, drug addicted, mean, psychotic, or abusive he was.

    • Stacey says:

      It’s sad, but I think that when a woman puts herself through all of that, it says more about her than it does about the man.

  6. Michele says:

    Noelle, this time you got in there ahead of me because I was going to say that somewhere there’s a woman who will think this guy is a catch.

    Wendy, have a great time in DC. I used to live there and miss it fiercely. My recommendation for pounding the very long marble halls of Capitol Hill is to wear comfortable shoes. You’ll do great lobbying. It’s lots of fun.

    • wendy says:

      I did wear boots with heels, but they were comfortable ones. I figured it was best to leave my “fabulous” shoes at home.

  7. Used to be you just had to put out. Now you have to own house?

    You’ll enjoy Washington. I worked on the Hill in an earlier life and did/do some lobbying as well. It’s exciting. I am proud that we can meet our legislators. People should avail themselves of the assistance of their Senators and Congressmen, to influence a bill or to solve a problem with the IRS. They really do answer/respond to us.

    Good luck.

    • wendy says:

      I visited the offices of both of my Senators. We were all in agreement, so there was not much arm wrestling to be done.

  8. Noelle says:

    Beth, those were the good old days, huh? 😀

  9. Lew says:

    What a dumb-ass wink that was!

    Quick story: I was living in Riverdale, The Bronx in 2008 when I decided to move back to the Upper West Side of Manhattan (too lonely in Riverdale). It was in the midst of the “econo-pocalypse” so prices were coming down on both the buy and rent side. I looked at both. And, at that time at least, renting was the far better option…Because 1 BRs co-ops on the Upper West were still going for $600-$700K. Mortgage and maintenance would be upwards of $4,500/month. Even when you take into account the tax deduction for mortgage interest, that still meant out of pocket costs of $3,300+. My rent for a similar place? $2,150. So I’m a happy renter.

    Enjoy DC! I’m going down there on Feb. 17 to protest the Keystone XL Pipeline.

    • wendy says:

      Upper West Side is one of my favorite neighborhoods in NYC, Lew. It’s great that you get to live there!

      • Lew says:

        Yes, I agree–I’m very lucky to live here. I’m repeating that mantra to myself as it’s 10 degrees (F) out. I mean where else, on MLK Day, could one go to a concert that included a mash up of Yiddish music w/ Gospel/Spirituals? That was at Symphony Space on 95th and Broadway. Very cool.

        • wendy says:

          I think everyone should try and live in NYC at least once. (I was born in Manhattan, so I got that out of the way early.)

  10. Nicolas says:

    I’m a new reader, so I’m not sure if this paper, “Online Dating:
    A Critical Analysis From the Perspective of Psychological Science”, has been sited here before. If not, it’s definitely worth a look:
    http://psi.sagepub.com/content/13/1/3.full?ijkey=cK9EB6/4zQ0AM&keytype=ref&siteid=sppsi

    • wendy says:

      Nicolas – I hadn’t seen this analysis before. Online dating improves access but not necessarily romantic outcome. Sounds right to me.

  11. Lola says:

    Hi Wendy, I live in DC!
    Hope you have a great time while you’re visiting. You didn’t mention but will you be staying in town through Monday for the Inauguration? I went to his first 4 years ago and it was an amazing experience. (I’ll miss it this week due to travel). Anyways, let us know how the week went for you and any interesting locations/restaurants/bars you were able to visit.

    Oh and that house guy – blech. 🙂

    • wendy says:

      I flew out of D.C., just as everyone was arriving. I’ll be watching the Inauguration on TV. Much better sight lines.

  12. mary c. says:

    Wendy I believe that House Guy is related to this Chemistry Guy:

    “There must be chemistry. If it’s not there, I don’t care what you look like or what you’re interested in.”

    Well. What exactly does this mean? How does he intend to attract any women with this kind of approach?

  13. Mel says:

    OK, I just reviewed an earlier post, so I must refrain from commenting on Match guy, except to say that I’m sure that he’s a fascinating individual who is obviously attempting to address his fiscal concerns.

    On a lighter note, as a Canadian who has always wanted to be American, I’ve been eagerly following the inauguration hooplah, and greatly enjoying it! In spite of all of the problems needed to be solved, it seems that you have an ethical, intelligent, and articulate leader who may still yet prove he’s also awesome!!

    Cheers, Wendy!

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