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From: amc@mhuxd.UUCP (Andy Cohill)
Newsgroups: net.singles
Subject: Common interests/jobs in SOs
Message-ID: <4820@mhuxd.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 20-Mar-86 21:36:10 EST
Article-I.D.: mhuxd.4820
Posted: Thu Mar 20 21:36:10 1986
Date-Received: Fri, 21-Mar-86 07:19:06 EST
Organization: AT&T Technology Systems/Springfield Operations
Lines: 28

I am bemused with the discussion about whether or not it is a good
idea for an SO to have the same kind of job or interests. There
seems to be such an obsession with *rules* on the net. So many
people seem to want a set of rules for relationships, so that they
do not have to make any decisions themselves. "If he/she has the
same kind of job, don't get involved." "Never call back more than
three times." And so on. All meaningless, all designed to let you
avoid the real point, which is that if you want something good to
happen, you have to take risks. 

It may also reflect the technical background of people on the net,
so used to rules in their professional life that they believe that
they can run their personal life the same way. It is an easy thing
to believe. And the anecdotes flood the netwaves; for every story
supporting one side of an argument, someone else has one arguing for
the other side.

So we re-discover the same thing over and over again:  that everyone
is unique, and the stories are important only to the tellers. No one
else really cares. As for finding someone with whom to share your
life, there are few reliable predictors of how it will happen or how
it will work out. James Branch Cabell said it best:

   "Love, I think, is an instant's fusing of shadow and substance."

Best regards,
Andy Cohill
ihnp4!mhuxd!amc