Hey Heartun~

I just got a teleport offer from someone I don’t know, and took it,  but the guy said I was the ‘wrong one’ and he unceremoniously ejected me from the sim. I’m stuck mid air! Hahah!

But seriously, what the hell was THAT all about?

~HANGING AROUND

DEAR HANGING~

I contacted your Lothario and he sent me the chat log — so it looks to me like it was an honest mistake. Your name is rather common, and there are several very close to it in an in-world search. The guy acknowledged his error and apologized. In my opinion, that meets the bare minimum of respect and amends within the context of Second Life.

His booting you was, according to him, just a tweaking of his sim permissions — not an overt booting. Plausible. Reasonable. Not drama inducing. Sure, he could have been far more gracious — especially if he had looked at your profile and seen how new you are. That would have been nice, but it isn’t required.

Pick-up artists abound in SL (If that is even what your dude was up to) and many of them are horrible at it! While I was writing this, I got a PM from a friend and reader who — dressed as a nun — got the following private message:

Photo courtesy Pratidin Times 

“hi mmmm nice avi” he opened with a compliment, so he probably thought he was ‘being nice’ but followed with “I know someone who likes to sodomize sexy nuns like you.”

And it just went down hill from there.

In Second Life terms, I hate to say it… but even THIS is probably not the worst pick up line ever. I don’t even know what that would look like, but sodomy rape would probably just be the warm-up offer.

I polled some female friends, and here are some of the ROUTINE private messages from random strangers they report getting as opening PM contacts:

  • Sup?
  • Mmmmmm!
  • Tasty!
  • Your cute!
  • Hey sexy.

The part that disturbs me is that if persistent behavior proves utility, this crap must be getting these people SLaid once in a while — or they would not do it!

Threats of rape sodomy can be reported to Linden Labs, and I understand they try to address threatening behavior like that… but even if they ban the asshole, there are alts. Blocking the transgressor may be your best bet, but whatever you decide to do — don’t let it ruin your time in Second Life. And if you come up with a solution for really piss-poor pick up artists, or how to best deal with them, drop me a line or leave a comment below this article.

~HEARTUN BREAKER