Like, what do I do? [UPDATED]
August 30, 2005

Alright, if it starts to sound like Friendster and MySpace are taking over my life, that's because they probably are.
I didn't think it possible, but these days I�m receiving even more messages from random men than ever. Is it because I�ve lost 30 lbs, and have a sexy new pair of jeans? (Neither of which facts can be seen in my Friendster pics as they are all at least a few months to a couple years old.) Does my lavender-backgrounded profile (which I haven�t really changed in months) have a new confident, sexy air? I do not know, and I highly doubt it, but this morning I found a message in my Friendster inbox that I might actually want to reply to, but for one thing.

It�s my first message from an American. An American Jew at that (or at least, I�m going to assume he�s Jewish based on the fact that he attended the Hebrew Academy). An American Jew who is currently living in Cairo, speaks Arabic, and has traveled around the Middle East. Who is hot, and who messaged me, but unfortunately opened his message to me with this unforgettable and possibly unforgivable line, �Are you caressing a nipple in that picture?�
The rest of the message was nice�short and casual, asking me if I still live in Cairo. Excellent punctuation and grammar (which, as you all know, seems rare with these Friendster messages). I�can see how it might look like I�m caressing a nipple in my main profile picture, but is that any way to speak to a lady?
Maybe I�m thinking too much of it. Perhaps my years in Cairo have made me prudish, easily taken aback. So, I come to you dear readers�even though I think I�ve already made a decision on the matter�to ask, should I reply to this hot, American, probably Jewish, Cornell and Johns Hopkins-educated, Cairo-dwelling young man, who lists his occupation as �wanderer�?
Or should I let him go the way of all the other wayward Friendster boys?

UPDATE(because you obviously all care): So, I took Yibba's lone piece of advice and cautiously messaged him back. I...still am not sure what to think. Is he a perv or a dork with a quirky sense of humor? Again, you be the judge:
i hung out in turkey a bunch - and just got back from there saturday, but i don't know if that counts as the middle east. was also in petra for a day, and spent some time in the zionist entity. so is it a nipple or what? and if so, how'd you get it by the friendster po' po? and finally, what is your family doing in cairo? are you native?

I really like how he sandwiched the nipple question in between places he's visited, and asking me if I'm "native". (Dude needs to lay off the Kipling or something.) Very classy. Where, by classy I really mean, WTF?

go west + go east