Ships that pass in the night, lit up by Kizmeet

Kizmeet is a new "missed connection" site. It's filled with plaintive messages, such as "Our eyes met over the watermelons at the Safeway, but I was too shy to say anything. You too?" Like that.

The site is well organized. It's geographic, of course, but also sorted by date and time, and there are nine major passed-in-the-night categories, such as gyms, coffeeshops, and outdoors. In each category, you can drill down further (in the San Francisco Kizmeet, for example, the major beaches and parks are listed). Or you can search by keyword: cereal, jeans, and so on.

For a while it's fun to read. And I can only imagine the thrill one would experience if, when reading the blurbs on Kizmeet, you realized, "Wait! That's me!" But what are the chances? Not only would your potential flame have to feel motivated enough to want to seek you out too, they'd also have to know about Kizmeet, and not be looking for you in the wrong place, like Craigslist, which has tons of missed-connection ads as well, although not nearly as well organized. (I guess the smart seeker would use both services.)

Kizmeet is well executed and fun to use. And it may make some people very, very happy. But the deck is stacked against its users. So here's advice from a grumpy, jaded old man: Next time you make a fleeting connection and in your shyness or insecurity think that technology will help turn a faint spark into a roaring fire, take a breath and get real--it's probably not going to work out that way. Walk up to the person and introduce yourself.