Do Better, Gentlemen.

While I only post about dates I've actually been on, I have plenty of highlights from my adventures in online dating. Having read Aziz Ansari's Modern Romance, I really agree that poor communication is a sign of my generation. How am I supposed to gain any insight from intro emails that simply say "sup" or "beautiful" or "hey"?

Yes, writing those emails is the absolute worst. How the heck are you supposed to instantly grab someone's attention and then have them want to write back when today's man can barely use punctuation in a text message? Don't get me started on the your/you're/ur usage.

I also have to take these pathetic casts with a grain of salt as several of the men lack high school diplomas so I can't expect Shakespearean quality. 

Recently, I received the following:

Hi there 

Yep, that's all there is to it. I clicked on this man's profile to find him a well-educated, successful 45 year old man. Are you kidding me?? I really pegged my generation as hopeless, seeking only older, wiser, more experienced men in my current dating pool. A man more than 10 years senior, however? Well, there must be no hope left at all. I was so heated by this (I know, Idina Menzel would tell me to let it go) that I just had to respond. 

I thought it was only my generation that was hopeless with communication, but you've proved that that it spans years.

Is "hi there" the best opener you could have made?

He didn't respond and I didn't expect him to. Maybe he was embarrassed that he's being called out for his laziness. I actually wanted him to somewhat defend his position. Not saying it would have resulted in a date, but I would have liked to know that there's a man of substance behind the "hi there".

Has the digital age retarded our communication abilities?

As my best guy friend would say, "We've got to do better, gentlemen."