What Have I Gotten Myself Into?

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Not a rhetorical question. I really do need some thoughts. Here's the story... I was searching on craigslist last week for a car, and I found myself in the personals section. (I swear it was an accident.) Since I'm not in the market for anything remotely as scandalous as I was finding in the "normal"(?) personals (let alone the "miscellaneous" section -- OMG!), I felt at home in "strictly platonic." I found a really appealing ad from a woman looking for someone to e-mail and IM with -- nothing serious and nothing romantic. Perfect. I sent her a fun little e-mail and she responded. So I sent another. Rinse and repeat.

Now I'm starting to sense that she may be after more than she advertised for. Without recounting lots of lurid detail, just know that (without asking) I have way more information than our little virtual relationship demands. We're not supposed to meet, so I really don't need to know what she looks like or her height and weight, right? (And I'm just assuming that when a woman advertises 5'8" / 105 lbs. that she's not looking for sympathy from a friend...) I'm also not supposed to buy her lingerie, so why would she tell me her ... um ... measurements??? Also, I think it's totally commendable that sex is her "favorite thing in the world," but why would I care? We're "strictly platonic" friends -- and virtual ones at that! Not to mention the fact that we've corresponded half a dozen times. Look, this is far from everything she's told me, but even still...

My own little mind has come up with the theory that women who don't want to come across as escorts on CL may post in "strictly platonic" in order to see if they can at least get a conversation going before a thousand creeps e-mail them for sex. Maybe there's something to this? Any thoughts? This is a very sweet woman (if a little needy), and I do not want to give her the wrong idea. At the same time, I can't help but feel like she gave me the wrong idea. Basically, I don't want to assume too much -- but I don't want to be naive either...

Is this how strictly friends get to know each other in the real world? (Not in my experience...)

I'd say trust your senses, dude.

Again, this woman is not seeking a platonic relationship. If she was, she would have lots more interesting topics of conversation than sex and her measurements. Maybe she's playing some kind of game. But rest assured, she is putting forth false advertisements. BTW, if a woman was really 5'8 and only weighed 105 lbs, she would be severely anorexic!


How do you know that she is sweet, or that anything that she says is actually true? Proceed with extreme caution.


Strictly friends don't become friends by lying to each other, first of all. Just saying. Any friendships that I had that were platonic, started out by meeting IRT. As long as you guys are just corresponding, it's all just fantasy at this point.

Some people are just VERY open with those they consider friends, such that literally NOTHING is off limits. Certainly, it's possible that she wants more than friendship, but it may be exactly what it's supposed to be, a friend talking to a friend.

Now, if YOU are uncomfortable with this level of information sharing, then you'd be doing her a favor by telling her. Something like "I really value our friendship, and I appreciate the trust you have in me, but I'm sometimes uncomfortable talking about certain things with women I'm not romantically involved in, so, if you wouldn't mind..."

It sounds like "strictly platonic" might just mean 'let's keep this casual' or 'no strings attached'?