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Personal Ads: Newspapers
Have you ever scanned the personal ads in you local newspapers? Just understanding the abbreviations can be a challenge, to say nothing of trying to find any that sound both intelligent and sane! Knowing the rules of the Personal Ads road will help whether you're writing your own or hunting for a match in on the printed page.
Most of these now protect the privacy of both the ad placer and the interested reader by offering a phone number to call to hear a message recorded by the seeker (voices tell a lot about a person) and an opportunity for the reader to leave a responding phone message. Be aware that these services often cost so much per minute of phone time. On any given late and lonely night you can rack up a big phone bill perusing a few dozen personal ad voice messages!
Here is an explanation of the ad abbreviations:
|
M |
Male |
F |
Female |
|
S |
Single |
D |
Divorced |
|
WW |
Widowed |
H |
Hispanic |
|
W |
White |
B |
Black |
|
A |
Asian |
NA |
Native American |
|
J |
Jewish |
C |
Christian |
|
G |
Gay |
ISO |
In search of |
|
n/s |
Non-smoker |
n/d |
Non-drinker |
|
n/drugs |
Drug-free |
P |
Professional |
|
LTR |
Long term relationship |
TLC |
Tender loving Care |
|
h/w/p |
Height/weight proportionate |
If you decide to run an ad, write it to the particular kind of person you hope to meet. Which of your special interests would you like for them to share? Sports, camping, live theater, jazz, spiritual exploration, photography, dancing, writing, art, body building? What life attitudes are you hoping for? Humor, kindness, independence, spontaneity, active and fast-paced or thoughtful and slower paced?
Most ads indicate the age or age ranges of both the ad placers and the kind of person they hope to meet. Some provide physical descriptions of themselves as well as the desired characteristics of a date or future significant other. Others state up front that appearance isn't important.
Here are a couple of boring ads to show you what not to write:
"To the woman of my dreams. I'm a DWM, 6', 200 lbs., brown/brown, who enjoys the pleasures of life. ISO a LTR with a WW/D/SWF, 35-40." [This tells you, the reader, virtually nothing about the seeker. Unless his recorded message offers something interesting, you know nothing about this person.]
"Friendly attractive brunette. 40ish DWPF h/w/p is back in the area after 10 years and is looking for someone to take long walks and share my life with." [Again this is too bland. About all we know is that she likes to walk and is lonely.]
These examples are far more likely to attract the kind of person the seeker is looking for:
"Class act attractive, down-to-earth SJF, 47, enjoys cultural activities, travel, wineries, dining out, Scrabble, movies and football games. ISO an equally classy SM n/s social drinker with similar interests. Friends or LTR possible."
"Thoughtful DBCM n/s with young children, looking for fun-loving, family oriented SCF 30-40 who loves the outdoors, camping, web surfing, R&B. My church community is important to me. How about you?"
"Experienced mental health professional 50ish 5'10" huggable DWPM, interested in exploring my inner spirituality, learning about other cultures and belief systems, enjoys drummings, writing haiku, Reiki, good conversation, Zinfandel, Thai food, midnight nature hikes, Starbuck's, books, acoustic guitar concerts. If I have a personal totem (I'm still working on that), it's wolf - the pathfinder and seeker of new ideas. Please call if you're 40-60 and share my interests. Appearance irrelevant."
A longer ad will cost more, but can be far more effective. Short ones must be particularly clever and informative to attract the hoped-for companion.
Good Luck!
~ February 2000
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