Deadly Spring Flings

Several years ago a female colleague of mine would scroll through the casual encounter section of Craigslist searching for struggling male models with six pack abs with whom she could “cuddle.” Though successful and smart, Donna had a hard time attracting the type of men she was attracted to and thus began her escapades with strangers she met online. Back then this was just becoming the norm, but as her officemate and friend I spent plenty a night worrying about Donna’s safety.

Fast forward to the present and it seems that hook-up sites are popping up everywhere to accommodate the casual encounters crowd. The air of legitimacy started with the now infamous Ashley Madison website whose tagline reads “life is short, have an affair.” One peak reveals that the profiles are not all pornographic pics of married folks, there are plenty of ever-curious men and women who too are looking for “whatever excites them” or some innocent “cyber-sex.”

Now there is onlinebootycall.com and flingfinder.com , each of which make no strings attached sexual encounters possible. Offensive as that may be to some, it is a reality for others, like Donna, who are trying to prevent loneliness, a non-existent sex life or a wounded ego.  Or just want to have some mischevious interludes.  While most people on these sites claim they are not looking for love, what’s interesting is that many are hoping that sex will turn into a long-term relationship.

Perhaps it’s the season for casual encounters - we are after all well into Spring, when those hormones start raging and the promise of a fling turned summer romance starts to invade our thoughts. Despite the popularity of these hook-up services, we’d be remiss if we did not stress that there are risks involved -- The New York Times recently presented a story on the subject after doing a careful undercover investigation of Craigslist’s Casual Encounters section. Spawning the investigation was the murder of 26-year-old Julissa Brisman, who was found dead last month in a Boston hotel room after having placed an ad on Craigslist for masseuse services. Then there was the killing of radio news reporter George Weber, who was found stabbed to death in his home after posting an ad seeking a potential sexual encounter.

Technology has enhanced societal worries about the safety of children -- as a result parents are able to put measures in place to help protect  young kids from exposure on-line to pedophiles. But the sociopaths and perverts who run rampant on the Internet are not necessarily targeting our youth.  As adults, don’t we owe it to our parents, loved ones and ourselves to protect ourselves?