Doohickie, my girlfriend has no problem with it but I may be a bit unique. All my employees live in other cities and countries as do all my clients. In addition, for several years I was away from home 4 to 5 days a week and as a result, my girlfriend has never met most of the people I know and most of the people I work with.

My wife doesn't feel comfortable with me getting to know people online.

That's not what she told me.

I wouldn't know. I've never asked him. I talk about you folks all the time (though not by name), so I don't think he'd be weirded out if I wanted to meet w/ y'all for a few beers. Meeting in a dark parking lot by our Elantras, though, is pretty weird.

My husband was (maybe still is?) quite uncomfortable with the idea of me meeting up with people I met online. Hence, I dragged him along to a mefi meetup a few weeks ago. I don't know if it alleviated his worries any - he thought that everyone he met was really nice, but his reaction was more in the "why are all these normal nice people meeting up with internet people rather than real life friends" rather than "oh people you meet on the internet can be nice". He just has a weird aversion to the internet in general. The only websites he visits are espn, NYT and the onion.

Anyways, he's still a little leery of me meeting up with people, but I tell him who's there, and now he's met a few people I think he's cooler with it.

The mefi crowd are a charming bunch. Really. Moonbird is one of my closer friends, thanks to mefi, and I even went to New York and met a bunch of great people.

So I would say, when the next mefi meetup comes around your way (or organize one) take your wife with you. It should take about 10 minutes, max, before she's happy and comfortable and even, in fact, impressed by these great people. The caution you enjoin your children to have online is caution you've already learned, anyway, just as you know to look twice before you cross the street and be sceptical with salespeople. It's the same as any life skills you teach your kids.

As for my friends & the internet? Well, they're used to me. ;-)

but does she think most people in general are unsavory?

as long as they are legal adults (or you're free of be considered to corrupt a minor)
and not junkies or obsessive fixators

gaspode/mygothlaundry-

I think you present a very reasonable approach. Unfortunately, you don't know my wife. She's a charming and wonderful lady, but rather stubborn. If she wants to think people I meet on the internet are unsavory, she will find "facts" to support it when she meets them ("did you SEE the way he holds his wine glass?!?!!"). Sometimes that stubbornness is a great asset, and then I refer to it as persistence, but other times it can be kind of frustrating.

Also, she is a first year teacher, which means she doesn't have a lot of time for social things, let alone social things with people who are *not* of *her* choosing. I try to respect that in that it is not an unreasonable view.

The fact that she didn't make a stink when I went to the Elantra meet was actually kind of a breakthrough for her; I expected much worse.

Does your wife interact with "strangers" on teh webternet thingy?

If she doesn't, maybe point her towards mefi/mecha.

I just got home from hanging out with a buddy who's sigO is extremely.antisocial.and.otherwise.fucked.up - is your wife generally open to meeting new people or is this a stigma only against people that are associated with the world wide web?

If she makes a fuss about meeting these people; maybe you can play the "don't be boring - try something new; it'll be an adventure" card.

point her towards mefi/mecha

One day of reading mefi and she won't want you talking to us online let alone in person. And I'm not being facetious.

agreed, arsehat! *mind boggles*

We have a very pacific household, and a major reason for this is that we never tell each other what to do... However, not many meetups in Greece. But mr. taz has talked on the phone to a couple of people I've met online... and when there was a plan for one friend to holiday in Greece, he was fine with the idea that we go visit them on the island where they planned to stay (though they ended up not coming). So he'd certainly be perfectly okay with it.

My partner and I met online so she's cool with online socializing. She mainly hangs on some yahoo groups, I'm more of a chatter. I worked for a woman briefly last January who was terrified of the web, claiming everyone posed as someone they weren't, be it age/race/sex/whatever. I told her you were probably more likely to meet a freak at the 7-11 across the street than online (depending on where you hang and your own level of freakitude). This is the same person who moved her sandwich shop to a much busier location and thought it was a good idea to stop accepting debit cards as a cost saver, taking cash/checks only. [roll eyes so they get stuck up in my forehead]

As far as Elantras go, my partner bought a new one in 2001 and it has been a great car - reliable, niceties like leather, cruise, sunroof - and a great warranty. For $15k brand new. She's been very happy with it. I don't think she'd go so far as to join a Hyundai forum though. ;)

Yeah, I bought an Elantra a year ago and love it.

I wouldn't hang out with any goddamn freaks in an Elantra forum, though.

:)

I wouldn't hang out with any goddamn freaks in an Elantra forum, though.

Oh, come on, don't be boring - try something new; it'll be an adventure!

My GF sometimes gives me the stinkeye for meeting up with online friends. I ignore it. She's welcome to do the same, if she ever manages to actually make any friends that way. I can't change her introversion.

Otherwise, you might offer to go socialize with the other barflies down at the local roadhouse instead. You never know, you could befriend the next Bukowski rather than some random sensible-economy-car owner.

Jeebus haploid christmas. The magic of the internets is that it allows you to hang out with people who *actually share your interests* rather than people who happen to be geographically proximate. Think of your childhood best friend - Probably lived on your block, right? You're telling me that of all the other kids in the world, the one most cosmically suited to be your best pal just happened to live down the block? No, the whole thing was a coincidence that boils down to what was listed in the Sunday paper the day your respective families were looking for a roof. As an adult, the Internets give you the choice. Revel in it.

Actually, I never had a "best friend". It's not as sad as it seems; I had a brother a year younger who I didn't get along with then but was still my confidante. My best friend now is my wife.

That was a helluva nice rant, though.