I met you in the rain on the last day of 1972

http://boston.craigslist.org/gbs/mis/5237173491.html

by brandonmenc • 11 years ago

438 96 11 years ago

boston.craigslist.org

kimura• 11 years ago

Good read. Thank you for sharing. I hope they reconnect.

Asbostos2• 11 years ago

And her husband doesn't mind?

JadeNB• 11 years ago

I didn't know what to expect from the title, but it wasn't that. That was amazing and heartbreaking, and reads like an elegant work of fiction. (The cynical part of me wonders if it is, but I don't like the idea and so relegate it to parentheses.)

Cidan• 11 years ago

I think a lot of people miss the point of this posting -- it doesn't matter if it's real or if it's fake, but rather it's an evolution of artistic expression. Someone is using Craigslist as an entirely new medium for writing a bit of poetry or short story. The potential for this type of work to reach people is huge, and that to me is the most exciting part of it all.

phamilton• 11 years ago

It ties in with the classic "For sale: baby shoes, never worn"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/For_sale:_baby_shoes,_never_wo...

learning_still5• 11 years ago

Presenting made up stories as authentic is by no means a new idea. To say it's an "evolution of artistic expression" is to give this piece and its author far too much credit. You're right, it does not matter if it is real or fake, but it absolutely matters if it is believable. You and I have read and believed many made up stories in our lifetime. Our instinct is to believe what we read. There could not have been a greater failure on the writer's part than to present us a piece that forces us to question its authenticity. The writer should give us no choice but to believe. Regardless of if the piece is true or not.

reledi• 11 years ago

Your comment is exactly what Cidan is criticising. The authenticity of the story is not interesting but instead how an old platform was used in a novel way.

bambax2• 11 years ago

Yes, real or fake, it's a great story, superbly told; I'd like to think it's real because it's more beautiful and more touching that way.

One sentence I find very profound is this: the prospect of suicide was suddenly less appealing than the prospect of discovering what had happened in that restaurant.

The other takeaway is this: do not go to the bathroom. Do not leave. Do not take your eyes off the object of your interest for one second, or she might leave and you'll never see her again.

StavrosK• 11 years ago

other takeaway is this: do not go to the bathroom. Do not leave. Do not take your eyes off the object of your interest for one second, or she might leave and you'll never see her again.

If the object of your interest wants to leave, I'm not sure imposing yourself on it is the best way to keep it around.

Steuard• 11 years ago

I've gotta say, whether taken literally or metaphorically this sounds a little creepy. On the literal level, clinging to someone constantly so they can't get away is likely to come across as somewhere between desperate and terrifying. And metaphorically, this level of focus can be fantastic in the short term, but taken too far it's a recipe for burnout and a hollow, fragile life.

pvg2• 11 years ago

Of course it matters. If it's real, it's a strange, perhaps touching story. If it's made-up, it's a trite and rather artless attempt to yank at your heartstrings. Being coy about whether something is a true account, fictionalized or outright fiction is a cheap way to avoid criticism of both one's reportage and art.

Jack Shafer wrote about this sort of thing regarding a David Sedaris flap a few years ago:

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/press_box/20...

sosborn• 11 years ago

If it's made-up, it's a trite and rather artless attempt to yank at your heartstrings.

Should we consider all fiction works in this way?

bartvk• 11 years ago

Perhaps it matters to YOU whether it's real or not. But people are different.

to3m• 11 years ago

Long-form graffiti :)

tokenrove• 11 years ago

But it isn't novel, either; using Craigslist for this is a well-known writing exercise. See for example http://www.thelmagazine.com/2010/10/ships-that-pass-craigsli...

ww520• 11 years ago

That's very touching. Wonder if it would lead to anything at all.

_nato_• 11 years ago

Quite Murakami-esque. Touching.

sul4bh2• 11 years ago

Please suggest me a Murakami book that resembles this story.

sdlm• 11 years ago

Reminds me a lot of this short story by Murakami: "On Seeing the 100% Perfect Girl One Beautiful April Morning" (1981) http://www.youmightfindyourself.com/post/22131227213/on-seei...

It's part of his 'The Elephant Vanishes' short story collection.

dates• 11 years ago

Murakami's earlier books are less fantastical and more sentimental. I would recommend Norwegian Wood, it's very good.

malkia• 11 years ago

Thank you!

rkho• 11 years ago

Fascinating. Using Missed Connections as a platform to set a context. It could be fictitious, but it's more than achieved its goal for everyone but the intended recipient.

I_NEED_ANSWER• 11 years ago

can I ask : What is "Craigslist and these Missed Connections"

wpietri• 11 years ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Missed_connection

InclinedPlane2• 11 years ago

Craigslist is a site where people can post classified ads for free in their local geographical area (e.g. city/metro area), similar to the old classified section of a newspaper. It also has a personals section. Part of the personals section is a "missed connections" area where people can post about an experience they had with someone where it felt like they should have exchanged contact information and kept in touch but missed the opportunity. If the other party of the missed connection happens to feel strongly and has the same idea to go to the missed connections area for the local craigslist site and if they happen to see the post from the other person they would recognize the description of their encounter and have the chance to get in touch.

waterlesscloud• 11 years ago

You're right about Missed Connections as context. This wouldn't have half the impact if it was in a literary journal. Just placing it in MC makes the reader more susceptible to experiencing it as real.

matryoshka4811• 11 years ago

How stunningly beautiful. It doesn't matter to me if it's real or not. The writer created a world and two people and I got to live that as the reader for a little while. If the writer sees this, thank you.

mrb• 11 years ago

In case this posting expires, here are copies:

https://www.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/3n86wi/i_met_you_in...

https://boingboing.net/2015/10/02/the-greatest-craigslist-mi...

rilut• 11 years ago

Beautiful. I also like this NYC Craigslist story http://www.craigslist.org/about/best/nyc/4301059953.html

Animats• 11 years ago

Is there a search engine for that?

You should be able to search all Government surveillance cams for your own history.

malusmage• 11 years ago

Thanks for sharing! I didn't expect this to be a real post given the title, but it was a great read.

Asbostos2• 11 years ago

Could be summarized as "I murdered some people and felt guilty, then I flirted with a beautiful woman which saved me from suicide, then I forgave myself for my crimes, now I'm lonely so I want to meet that woman again."

I don't have any sympathy for this man who's had just about the best possible life he could have, given what he did.

I'll bet there are plenty of prisoners serving life for murder who would also like to meet some old flame but don't have the freedom to post on Craigslist.

toBuildSails2• 11 years ago

Yes, "boo" to using words that play with peoples emotions, and "yay" to not ever doing that sort of thing.

...except your summarized version also triggers an emotional response, does it not? Perhaps less deceptive. (or is it?)

InclinedPlane2• 11 years ago

People often denigrate new media because they have a habit of comparing the average of the new with the cream of the traditional. "Look what I ate for lunch today" on instagram vs "Hamlet by Wm Shakespeare".

Here we have an excellent example of something that needs to be slid into the folder marked "In defense of the internet".

learning_still5• 11 years ago

I don't believe this post, and I think the author should have done a better job of making it realistic since that was clearly the goal of using craigslist. There are countless authentic (and believable though false) anecdotes available today because of the internet. I would have liked to see the author do more research, to have read some of the aforementioned writings, ditch the traditional rulebook, and create something I could believe. They clearly have a knack for writing, but their adherence to so many traditional rules destroys what they were trying to accomplish. Every day people with much less talent make up stories that are readily believed. (Reposted links with claims of being the original poster are the easiest to find examples of this.) It's a shame. This was a marvelous idea. And I hope the next time I read this author's work, I'll have no choice but to believe.

runamok• 11 years ago

This reminds me of an anecdote where someone who jumped off the Golden Gate Bridge wrote that if a single person smiled at them while they walked to the bridge they would not jump off. That sadly didn't happen... I think caring for one another in even minor ways can have a huge impact. http://www.sentinelandenterprise.com/news/ci_25438684/just-s...

DanBC2• 11 years ago

There are a few examples of people who were about to die by suicide when someone asks how they are and if they need a bit of help.

it doesn't take much to stop most death by suicide.

Perceval• 11 years ago

“There are many causes for a suicide, and generally the most obvious ones were not the most powerful. Rarely is suicide committed through reflection. What sets off the crisis is almost always unverifiable. Newspapers often speak of 'personal sorrows' or of 'incurable illness.' These explanations are plausible. But one would have to know whether a friend of the desperate man had not that very day addressed him indifferently. He is the guilty one." —Albert Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus

Camillo6• 11 years ago

I'm not sure what people find "beautiful" or "touching" in this story. A man is wracked by guilt over what he has done to the point of deciding to end his life, but then he forgets all about it as soon as a pretty girl gives him attention. Inasmuch as it is believable, this is a story about how all our lofty notions of justice, honor, purpose etc. are just bullshit, and it's really all about fucking, consuming and keeping those genes alive. Matter over mind, humanity revealed as a mere dusting on thought over the throbbing mass of limbic functions.

It is depressing. Its only redeeming quality is the fact that it's obviously fake.

nappy-doo• 11 years ago

I bet you're fun at parties.

datalist• 11 years ago

I am sorry, but thats all you have to say? Camillo is absolutely right on that subject. This person killed hundreds (if not more) of beings, realised his guilt, subsequently wanted to choose the "noble" path of taking the consequences (even though, realistically, it wouldnt have changed a single thing for those he bombed) and suddenly forgot everything the moment he met a pretty girl.

Fake or not, if you are saying people are only fun if they admire such a bunch of a wannabe-romantic story and go "aaaaaawwwww", then I am really sorry.

sridca3• 11 years ago

I bet you will do anything – including degrading yourself (such as imitating the inanities of the group) – just to not be seen as a spoilsport at parties.

hugh4• 11 years ago

One wonders: does one really fly four bombing sorties in a week, get discharged, and get home within seven days? That sounds remarkably quick by government work standards.

learning_still5• 11 years ago

Yes. The post is clearly fake. Even if the author hadn't messed up with any facts, the style of the writing gave it way. You'll notice that there are tons and tons of details. Everything is as specific as possible in an effort to adhere to "Show Not Tell". Even if we believed someone could have a memory this crystal clear after 40 years, many of the details are completely meaningless to the premise that is presented (a man thanking a woman for human interaction when he needed it most).

mrrrgn• 11 years ago

"Inasmuch as it is believable, this is a story about how all our lofty notions of justice, honor, purpose etc. are just bullshit, and it's really all about fucking, consuming and keeping those genes alive."

When we're sad, we often get caught in a sort of mental loop. Sometimes getting attention from a pretty girl steals our attention and helps bump us out of it. It's something about the human condition. It's relatable, and that's probably why people tend to find the story beautiful.

There's nothing inherently good or bad about that. Your disgust is fueled by the same physical processes that underly the warm fuzzies felt by others.

wellboy• 11 years ago

The beauty of it is that love or just having someone to talk to can change lives and last for decades, no matter the background or what happened to a person. Pretty beautiful if you ask me :)

joostdevries• 11 years ago

There's one view of life where everything is only about ultimate timeless contextless values. That seems your perspective here. '...so by the transitive property it's only about fucking.' At some point in my life I learned that I no longer subscribe to that point of view. The way I read that story is that within the context of flying bombing raids he felt he had no right to live. Which to me as a reader shows that he empathises with the people he bombed. It's not an eternal truth about man killing man happening but it's something he did to another human being. When he meets the girl in the rain he's in another context in another moment between people. And he feels worthwhile for a moment again. She leaves him in the story so the fucking end goal is taken of the table. It was just an isolated moment that's meaningful in itself. And he feels differently. If we want to give the transition of feeling a name we might say he feels redeemed. Just like the meeting in the rain was isolated and without end result similarly the posting on craigslist is without end result and follow up but it's still meaningful after 40+ yrs. Which goes to underscore that our emotions in life are often without end result and followed by totally different emotions and attendant value systems. But we have to experience them as meaningful anyway. Because the alternative is nihilism and depression.

Just an impression of what goes through me at this point in my life when I read that story. I recognise your take on it as well. It's just that I learned that looking at life like that did not make me happy in the end. And that the feeling of intellectual victory was without substance.

Camillo6• 11 years ago

Sounds like you're projecting your younger self on me. But in fact, "it's all about fucking" is not a conclusion from some philosophical perspective. It's all there in the story.

The character forgot his guilt because a hot girl spoke to him. That's 90% of what we know about her, that she's sexual attractive to him - in fact, that she's the most attractive girl he's ever seen. This is not a story about "human connections" or finding "acceptance" for one's past - heck, they didn't even talk about Vietnam. This is a story about overcoming sexual arousal through guilt. No, about sexual arousal overriding guilt.

And that is why it doesn't matter that the girl left. What "redeemed" him was not the girl, it was his own boner. "You're with me still", indeed.

exodust3• 11 years ago

It's creative writing, which some people like no matter how authentic.

The writer has some skills. The flow and efficiency would earn marks as a school assignment!

"scaled the hill with its golden dome, and meandered into that charming labyrinth divided by Hanover Street"

It might seem simple, but in those few words a lot of information is communicated.

"Ironically, the torture of your abandonment seemed to swallow my self-loathing"

Nicely put! Again, top marks.

As an aside, I've noticed over the years that programmers make good writers. Wit, efficiency, confidence. Obviously excelling at technical subject matter, but even so, sometimes it's entertaining. I wonder if the reverse is true? That good writers and literature-heads make good programmers (if they tried). As in, creative code, efficient code, structured etc.

blue1• 11 years ago

You could find interesting Vikram Chandra's "Geek Sublime". It's an essay about writing and programming.

bambax2• 11 years ago

would earn marks as a school assignment

Oh, come on. I can't tell if you're being ironic or clumsy, but if it's the later I strongly disagree. This is fantastic writing, much better than what we read everywhere everyday; in school it would warrant to take the teacher's place.

Theodores• 11 years ago

Harsh!

First of all it is human to feel suicidal for whatever reason from time to time. These times are lonely and just meeting a new person and having a normal conversation, no matter how short, can make a huge difference, to 'snap out of it'.

The life force is strong even with those determined to kill themselves - conscious decision making to end it all is over-ruled by some mystery hypervisor deep down in the brain. Guy snatches a few moments with one of those pretty girls that have been ignoring him for all of his life - what do you expect? Life is worth living, after all and 'I must kill myself' gets over-ruled for another day. That isn't about fscking or consuming, that is just about being a fragile human being and wanting someone to love.

Secondly, we rarely tell stories exactly as the events happened. With each telling of a story we learn what is important to the story and what is not. We omit facts that are not entirely necessary to be told. Right now there are refugees WALKING all the way from Syria to new lives in Europe. Along the way some of these refugees might have been given a bus ride to the outskirts of a city, somewhere along the way. If such a bus ride is a few miles and yet they have walked hundreds of miles, or maybe a thousand miles, are they 'lying' by claiming to have walked all the way? Are their stories fake, their epic walk undermined by a short bus ride somewhere in the midst of an epic walk?

In this instance, the author may not have looked for the woman every day for a year. He probably had some public holidays, health problems, bad weather or whatever along the way, so that part may not be entirely true.

You may have found this story depressing but I suspect you are in a minority.

Camillo6• 11 years ago

Guy snatches a few moments with one of those pretty girls that have been ignoring him for all of his life - what do you expect?

That's not in the story! It would at least have made a modicum of sense if he was a desperate loner who was going to kill himself over his feelings of absolute social and romantic rejection, but none of that is in the story.

littletimmy• 11 years ago

Let me guess - you are an idealist turned cynic?

Lighten up. Just see the human animal as it is - warts and all - without judging it.

eecks• 11 years ago

What I got from it was that the man is wrecked by guilt. The woman provided him with a distraction and allowed him to get his life back on track (marriage, family) but in the end he is still wrecked by guilt - he cries everyday.

Very sad story.

nkohari• 11 years ago

Yeesh. Lay off the Nietzsche.

chris_wot3• 11 years ago

I disagree. The very act of listening to someone with that level of pain, a level so great he was about to end his own life, and similarly listening to the pain of the other person with the same intensity, that's where the beauty lies.

Camillo6• 11 years ago

As if that woman was the first person to talk to him. Even if he had somehow lost all his family and friends back home, he would still have had some comrades in arms. And if he had been abnormally lonely it would have - should have! - been in the story, but it wasn't.

No, the point was not the act of listening, it was that the girl was hot.

kelvin0• 11 years ago

Wow, Vulcan awaits you Sir! You are way more cynical than I am ... either that or really as depressed as the guy in the story? Maybe you are angry at the reflection this story forced on you? I wish you well in any case.

ctvo• 11 years ago

There's so many ways to look at life. Being an extreme cynic didn't work for me. It didn't improve my happiness, productivity or helped anyone around me.

I read the story as random kindness and forming a connection with another human saved a life. The moral for me is a smile, a kind word, a 30 minute conversation can impact people in significant ways.

uhtred• 11 years ago

I find it sad that people feel it is acceptable to attack you personally, for this comment. It is your opinion and you are entitled to it, although apparently not on Hacker News.

Camillo6• 11 years ago

Don't worry, I am unscathed.

mlamat• 11 years ago

Is that you, John Mccain?

mjs• 11 years ago

I once read a story (I think in the Washington Post) about two people meeting up in similar circumstances sometime in the 60s or 70s, and then, when parting, promising to meet again at a specific location and time far into future.

And so after decades, one party went to the arranged meeting point with great anticipation having told their family about the story, etc. But the other party didn't turn up. Eventually the reporter tracked them down, and they couldn't remember anything about the original meeting.

Unfortunately, I've never been able to find this story again, despite spending quite some time looking! But, going by this story, I think it's quite possible that often when something like this happens it's far more significant to one person than the other, partly because some people have more drama in their lives than others.

jdeibele• 11 years ago

Every time my alumni magazine comes it has a page devoted to identifying passages that people remember but can't find.

http://www.loc.gov/rr/program/bib/lost/novels.html has tips on how to find books. Maybe some of the same places would have suggestions on how to find the article?

cousin_it• 11 years ago

Sad story. I guess the girl was interested in the guy at first, but then lost interest when he started talking about his emotional problems.

Uptrenda• 11 years ago

Oh god, it's raining inside ;-------; That was such an elegant short story.

DonHopkins• 11 years ago

I met you on the London Underground Tube in 2006, and I was such a such horse's ass for not holding the doors open...

http://data-freeyork.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/...

Gobiel• 11 years ago

It lost all credibility at "thusly".. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/thusly

njharman• 11 years ago

Nice story. But, I'm gonna be a pooper and state people who want to kill themselves just do it. People who take multi hour walks are looking for hope, anything to use as an excuse not to kill themselves. Good this guy found his.

blacksqr• 11 years ago

How hard could it be to check Boston society page engagement and wedding announcements for 1972 and 1973?

rileytg• 11 years ago

it wouldn't be that hard. if this was real, we'd have a good national treasure meets the notebook film to make.

drdeadringer• 11 years ago

To be fair, the person did mention being old and unfamiliar with Facebook. The thought to check "the high-society pages" might be a similar "didn't think of that" despite the "Boston nobility" drop.

j2kun• 11 years ago

FWIW, I have seen some fiction I've enjoyed in the format of "craigslist ad." Here's one that has stuck with me as a good example:

http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2013/08/the...

Mz• 11 years ago

Ah, the glory of unrequited love, always so much better than the real thing where we have to deal with their literal and metaphorical dirty laundry. In the absence of actual reality, we get to imagine them a perfect being. We get to fill in the blanks with such fierce emotion and lofty assumptions about someone we never really knew.

The beginning of the piece has such wonderful and evocative detail, it is either a genuine memory or well researched fiction or some mix of the two.

Unlike other cynics here, I don't think it can be easily dismissed as merely "Wow, our gonads sure drive us." But then I believe we are spirits in the material world and I have been sustained through many hard things because of strange and kind encounters myself. Edit: Also, my father and ex were both soldiers and I have known many military personnel. So, there's that.

upwords• 11 years ago

I read your story in the rain on the last day of my failed vacation. I do not know if you are reclining in your Lazyboy bemused and self congratulatory or in an more dramatic parallel irony- you haven't a clue what Ycombinator is and don't know that you are an old man who did achieve his 15 minutes. Either way-delightfully crafted.

hitautodestruct• 11 years ago

It's been removed. Anyone have a copy/screenshot of this?

I met you in the rain on the last day of 1972

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