Lonely in America

Is loneliness a real problem in this world? Recent events had led me to think about this matter more. Where the boundaries of the world are diminishing, so are people's sense of security and comfort. The opening of the unknown creates an alienation which highlights how lonely we really are. The hustle and bustle of this world push us in one corner; where we desperately hanging to the things that we know -- our race, our gender, our nationality, our religion, anything at all. We look for things in common so we don't feel so alone. There's no telling where we can find similarities with others.

This is an example of how lonely people are -- throwing things out there to see if there's another feeling as lonely as they are:

Thank you for taking the time to read this.

I found your profile online here and thought I would
take the chance to contact you. My email
address is: ********@yahoo.com. I would
greatly appreciate the opportunity to know you.

I am looking for a lifetime partner, someone with
whom I can share my happiness. But I am also
looking for friends, as well. I live in a small house
with a large garden. Gardening is one of my
hobbies. I have rose bushes, dwarf fruit trees
(orange, tangerine, cherry, peach, nectarine,
kumquat, etc.) lots of other flowers. I also make
great desserts and I am an excellent baker. I like
to water ski, play tennis, ice skate, hike, go to the
beach and I am a voracious reader (mostly non-
fiction).

My parents are retired and still live in Iowa where I
grew up. Iowa is in the Midwest of the U.S. and is
farm country. I also have 4 sisters, all married and
8 nieces and nephews. Two were adopted from
Korea. My sisters all live in the Midwest too, near
my parents.

When I was a child, I would work on my
grandfather's farm in summer and during harvest
season. I guess this is why I like to garden.

I am 2000 miles away from my family, as I live in
Oakland, CA. Oakland is just a few minutes from
San Francisco where my law office is located. I live
close to the ocean, although most of the time the
water is too cold to swim in. I do go to the beach
frequently or hike along the cliffs and sand by the
beaches. There are hundreds of miles of hiking
trails here. The Bay Area is very scenic. The
weather never gets too hot or too cold. 200 miles
from here are mountains.

I am compassionate, patient, romantic (that is why
I grow roses), have a corny sense of humor,
knowledgeable about the world, and very
intelligent. I do not drink, smoke or do drugs of
any kind.

I am not your typical American. I represent the
poorest in our society. Even though we are a rich
country, tens of millions are living in poverty. These
are the people I serve. Even in the Bay Area there
are over 600,000 poor people. My agency is a
Legal Aid and we are the lawyers that are
supposed to represent them. It is an impossible
task. We have seven offices and about 80 staff, but
we have more possible clients than we can
possibly help. I primarily assist abused women
with divorces, custody, etc.

I also do media work as well. I am also our
Communications Director/Media Coordinator. I
write our newspaper column and occasionally do
radio and TV to let the public know that not all is
well in America.

If you have other questions for me, feel free to ask.
Tell me more about yourself. Anything you want
to tell me is appreciated. Have you ever been to
the U.S.? I was in the Philippines in November
2004 and in Singapore and Malaysia in 2001.

I look forward to hearing from you if you would like
to know me.

A journey of 10,000 miles begins with a single
step. Please take that first step by writing back to
me.

Or are they simply American? Hahahaha... Bad joke, I know. I'm sorry. And no, I don't join any online dating service or anything like that.