Please Save Paul

[EUOL]

Okay, so, sit back for a kind of strange story.

Apparently, while I was on vacation a week ago, someone left a gift on my doorstep.  It was a little goldfish in a bowl, along with a colorful note that said something like "Brandon, my name is Paul.  I need someone to take care of me."  (I think it was a little longer, with a bit of a story, but that is the gist of it.)  There was an email address at the bottom.

Well, I live with three other bachelors.  I was out of town for a week, so they brought in the fish, but it died a couple days later.  The note got misplaced, and when I got back a week later, no one thought to tell me about the incident.  I didn't find out until a week after that.

So, what should I make of this?  Our inclinations are to think that some young lady was trying to get my attention.  

[fuzzyoctopus]

Since you live in Utah, your guess is probably right.

You could always have the bishop make an announcement.  "And would the person who left Paul at 400 N. 1800 W. please contact the recipient as he has lost your email address."

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

she's too subtle. Of course, she'll never get bolder if she doesn't know it died. All in all, I think that's a week way to get attention.

[Gemm: Rock & Roll Star; Born to Rock]

I think it wasn't very week at all. I think it very clever. And Fuzzy, love the address, 400 North by 1800 West.

Then again EUOL, it could have been marked. And been trained to kill you on site. So maybe it was better that it is now, dead?

[fuzzyoctopus]

Gemm, that's how addresses work in most parts of Utah. The streets are on a grid here, so most street names are acutally numbers, followed by north, south, east or west.  But I'm glad you were amused.  I was too lazy to look up his real address.

[Slant]

I'm not sure of what to make of it, but it DOES sound kinda fishy.

[Entsuropi]

Utah addresses sound dull.

And thats rather demented. Maybe she wanted to see if you could manage to keep it alive? Some sort of obscure test of commitment etc.

[fuzzyoctopus]

Utah addresses sound dull.

That's as may be, but it makes finding things much easier.  You can go to a city you've never been to before and find a place with just the address.

[JP Dogberry]

I think it wasn't week at all. A Month way of getting attention, even a year way, but not a week way.

[fuzzyoctopus]

I vote for a fortnight.

Actually, hmmm. How long did it take his roomates to tell him?  

[EUOL]

Well, I emailed the address (as best my roommates could remember it.)  We'll see if I get a response.  Honestly, I think it's a kind of strange way to get ahold of someone.  Perhaps I'm getting old, but I prefer bluntness.

[Entsuropi]

Perhaps I'm getting old, but I prefer bluntness.

Getting?

[The Holy Saint, Grand High Poobah, Master of Monkeys, Ehlers]

twas lame, face it. I mean. Here's an anonymous fish, email me! Oh, and I didn't even bother to check if you were in town.

[Peter Ahlstrom]

what bad timing!

If it were me, well, I would probably be very interested in discovering who sent me the fish. I'd be displeased with the roommates for their negligence, and express said displeasure to them. (Not so much about the fish but the email thing.) And I'd do whatever it took to find out who the person was.

Yes I agree that a direct approach would be much better, but any (honest) approach I'd generally consider better than none.

But since it's not me in this situation...well, what are the odds that someone who uses a goldfish approach has a Ph.D.?

(and Gemm, fyi: 400 N. 1800 W. would be a bit off; usually it would be more like 401 N. 1800 W. or 452 N. 1800 W.; actually they're likely to say "No." instead of "N." for North. 1800 West would be the street; 401 would be the address of the building. 401 would be on the corner of streets 1800 West and 400 North; 452 would be halfway down the block of 1800 West, between the streets 400 North and 500 North. Sometimes 400 North is called 4th North, and 1800 West called 18th West.

I think that system works better than the (lack of a) system in most cities.)

[stacer]

Wow, EUOL. Sounds like a typical Utah secret admirer, but I agree--the direct approach is the best. Not necessarily that she should ask you out, but that she should show her interest in person by talking to you and suggesting possible activities. But that would be so... ordinary.