Everyone's Google Secret

Tonight I spent some time at my neighbor's apartment -- he was having a cocktails and hookah (sp?) party in honor of Valentine's Day -- when we started discussing our generation's biggest dating secret: the Google Background Check (GBC). Doesn't matter if we've been dating someone for 5 months or 5 minutes, we can all admit to Googling people we date. We do the Google background check for many reasons:
- to verify personal facts shared in the bar ("Did his grandfather REALLY invent toothpaste?" - I seriously looked that up once for Hottie G -- see Dec. 3 entry)
- to get more specific info on things said on the first date ("What'd he do while he was at Harvard?")
- to make sure your friend wasn't lying when she described him to you ("Does he really volunteer his time tutoring small children?").

And if you're really adventurous, you'll even do the Google Image Search just in case your beer goggles were extra foggy the night you met. Oh wait, maybe that's just me. Regardless, the unspoken etiquette around the GBC includes 1) not telling the other person you did it 2) definitely not asking questions on the facts you learned unless he/she has already mentioned them 3) not admitting that you know what the first 5 hits are when you Google yourself.

I confess, I actually did a Google Background Check tonight on a guy I met last weekend. He's finishing up grad school at a local university. He seemed nice enough and he asked for my number as I left the bar. In perfect Swingers-esque fashion, he called me precisely 3 days after our first meeting. I actually missed the call so I replied today via text message (I was too self conscious to call on Valentine's Day -- neurotic, I know.) just saying if he was around tomorrow night. He quickly replied, "Yes, I'm around. I'm all yours." A bit over enthusiastic, perhaps. He followed up tonight with a phone call and we'll be meeting up for sushi and drinks tomorrow night. But back to the Google background C --- [pause in typing] OMG, I just stopped typing because I heard some noise coming from outside my window. At first I thought it was a family of pigeons who have built a nest nearby but after turning down the music on my laptop...it's not pigeons -- it's my neighbor downstairs having sex with some guy! I say "some guy" because this is the first time I've heard this --- cacophony. So perhaps this is a new special friend. Sounds like everyone hit the jackpot. LOL. [resume typing]

My GBC yielded all truths that had been shared in the bar. If anything, he was much more humble in person than his [pause in typing] Holy crap -- the neighbor and the guy are at it AGAIN! It's been like 5 minutes since...well, you know. This is making me feel so dirty in my own home. [resume typing] resume suggests online. He's a smart cookie!

So yeah, cheers to GBCs...and neighbors who are enjoying Valentine's Day to its fullest.