... in response to messed up - you ever do this?, posted by thesearch on Oct 24, 2001I ran into this situation several times. The problem I encountered has to do with the naivety of the ladies who think you are going to come 5,000 miles just to see them alone.
Thus, they will send you an e-mail from a new e-mail address and sign it Sveta, or Irina, or Natalie. But Russians, unlike here, tend to stick with just a few common names, so inevitably you could be corresponding with 5 - 10 ladies with the same first name. They can also throw you for a loop by using other variations of their names in an e-mail. Natalie's will sometimes call themselves, Nata, Natale, Natalia, and even Natasha. And when they combine a different spelling with a different e-mail address; you are dead, no matter how well you have tried to keep records.
While I was in SPb, I was due to meet with a Tatiana for 4 days. Then I got an e-mail message signed by a Tatiana (who had previously spelled her name Tatyana) wondering when I was going to call her. So I called the Tatiana and told her I was still coming so she didn't need to worry. She didn't know what I was talking about, and it almost cooked my goose with her. So why didn't I know from the e-mail address which Tatiana-Tatyana it was. Believe it or not the original Tatyana told me she was having trouble with her e-mail and
This is another reason why, when I was in SPb for a month, I refused to give out my apartment phone number to the ladies (I had a very good story to support the reasoning to them). But one of them had a cell phone which recorded the number of the incoming calls to her. And sure enough she called once (the night of 11 September to offer condolences) and said, "This is Irina." But I had not a clue as to which one it was, because I actually had 8 Irina's on my list (it must have been a very popular name during a certain time period). Not until she talked further, could I distinguish which one it was.I ran into this situation several times. The problem I encountered has to do with the naivety of the ladies who think you are going to come 5,000 miles just to see them alone.
Thus, they will send you an e-mail from a new e-mail address and sign it Sveta, or Irina, or Natalie. But Russians, unlike here, tend to stick with just a few common names, so inevitably you could be corresponding with 5 - 10 ladies with the same first name. They can also throw you for a loop by using other variations of their names in an e-mail. Natalie's will sometimes call themselves, Nata, Natale, Natalia, and even Natasha. And when they combine a different spelling with a different e-mail address; you are dead, no matter how well you have tried to keep records.
While I was in SPb, I was due to meet with a Tatiana for 4 days. Then I got an e-mail message signed by a Tatiana (who had previously spelled her name Tatyana) wondering when I was going to call her. So I called the Tatiana and told her I was still coming so she didn't need to worry. She didn't know what I was talking about, and it almost cooked my goose with her.
So why didn't I know from the e-mail address which Tatiana-Tatyana it was. The original Tatyana told me she was having trouble with her e-mail and was using someone elses e-mail. And incredible as it sounds, the friend had the same last name (which showed up in the header) as the last name of the original Tatiana. Therefore, I just assumed it was the original Tatiana's daughter (she did have a daughter who had e-mail, although I didn't know the daugher's first name). Ther is no way any guy, even one such as myself who plans meticulously, can avoid these situations. It all just goes back to the idea that the ladies cannot believe you are there to see anyone but themselves. Although I will say that a few of them did understand, and thought it was only rational that you met with several ladies; but they were in the distinct minority.
The above use of common names is another reason why, when I was in SPb for a month, I refused to give out my apartment phone number to the ladies (I had a very good story to support the reasoning to them). But one of them had a cell phone which recorded the number of the incoming calls to her. And sure enough she called once (the night of 11 September to offer condolences) and said, "This is Irina." But I had not a clue as to which one it was, because I actually had 8 Irina's on my list (it must have been a very popular name during a certain time period). Not until she talked further, could I distinguish which one it was.
