I logged into my Instant Messenger accounts this morning and was immediately pounced upon by an unknown person. The conversation went something like this.

unknownPerson: hotgrits? great name! lol!
h0tgrits: hi. who are you?
unknownPerson: just a guy from Ohio. I saw your name on the [geeky forum’s] member list
h0tgrits: ah, ok

(A minute or two goes by. I’m hoping that’s the end of this.)

unknownPerson: so are you from the South?

(Pause. Is this guy still hanging around?)

h0tgrits: why do you ask?
unknownPerson: grits are in the South
h0tgrits: actually, its a slashdot reference
unknownPerson: oh! I am so uninformed…lol

(pause)

unknownPerson: what is slashdot?

(I could see that one coming. One too many lol’s and no idea what Slashdot is. What am I doing here?)

h0tgrits: slashdot.org
h0tgrits: hey, nice chatting with you. I’ve got to get to work.
unknownPerson: ok lol. goodbye

I then decided to check my profile for this IM account. Aha! Years ago, I listed my gender as “female” to mess with the corporate bean counters at the IM Corporation.

I’ve just been hit on over the Internet.