Lawrence on role models

Staff Editorial

Letters to the Editor

Editorial Cartoon

Wendy M. Miller

I have a confession to make. I procrastinated when it came to joining the sect of surfers on the World Wide Web. At the time I was still at home in West Virginia and my daily planner was full (or so I thought). I dismissed the notion for several years with a wave of the hand and a muttered "too busy." I defiantly rejected this aspect of 20th century technology. However, life has a way of making decisions for me. With my brother (whom I adore) moving to Tennessee to go to school, long-distance phone bills loomed on the horizon. So I called my local ISP and got "hooked up." In 1996, my PC successfully connected for the first time (with the now familiar noise that suspiciously sounds like a cat being strangled). I knew that Internet access would open the world up - but I had no idea how much it would change my life.

With my new power, I can search for anything at the stroke of a key. Hours and hours are easily spent online. There is so much to see and do. The correspondence between my brother Aaron and I went from e-mails to chat rooms. It is easier to talk to someone when they can immediately answer. We chose a particular chat room through e-mails. 

We both like the band Korn, so we selected one with that theme. I find my way to the web address and clumsily fight through logging-in to the chat. Once in, my brother and I talk … and talk.

Thus, my love affair with chat rooms began. Anyone who surfs the web eventually discovers chat rooms. On the limitless web, a chat can be surprisingly cozy. Each chat has its own atmosphere with "regulars" popping in and out constantly. They even have their own lingo. The abbreviations typed on the screen have meanings. Some examples are: LOL (laugh out loud); ROFL ( rolling on floor laughing); BBL (be back later); BRB (be right back); TTFN (ta-ta for now).

Korn chat became my regular haunt. My brother and I became online friends with individuals from all over the globe. There was, however, one chatter who won my attention from day one. When I would see his name pop on the screen, as he entered the chat room, it always made me smile. His handle was RAS and he was from … (drum roll, please) … Houston, Texas.

I am going to make a really long story short and tell you that I continue to talk to RAS every day. RAS (a.k.a. my boyfriend Mike) and I both attend UH. On Valentine's Day, Mike and I will celebrate our two-year anniversary. In light of that special day, I wanted to share my love story. It is a story of fate. On the enormous Web, we both found our way to Korn chat - and found each other. I will keep my gushing to a minimum (since lovey-dovey talk makes some gag) and say only this. Even though Mike and I have spent ten thousand hours chatting online, talking on the phone and a year together in Houston … I still pay attention when he talks - and I always smile when he enters the room.

Why did I tell my story? Well, it is for a simple reason. Everyone knows the stories of online relations gone wrong (tales of stalkers and weirdos and such), but it is not often that you hear an online success story.

Well, now you have.