Set up

Those are the two most dreaded words in the English language, if you happen to be single. Y'all may remember the last time a friend tried to set me up. If not, well let me just say it didn't turn out well. Now a coffee shop pal has a woman he wants me to meet. She works with his wife, she's really pretty, ... He mentioned her a while ago, but nothing had been said recently. This morning, though, coffee shop guy's wife showed up and she gave me the woman's email address. Now what?

It's not that I'm against meeting the mystery woman. Though I don't do it often, I do have the ability to interact, socially, with people I don't know and sometimes I even enjoy it. Still, though, how do I make contact, out of the blue, with someone I've never met or even spoken to? My initial impulse was to go very sarcastic, but sometimes that doesn't come across well in email. I tried to supress that as much as possible, but here's what I ended up with:

[Mystery Woman],

As I sit at my computer, I realize I have absolutely no idea how to begin this message. Let me try, "Hi, I'm [St. Caffeine]." I know that doesn't tell you much, but I trust [Coffee Shop Guy] has at least forewarned you that you might be hearing from me. Okay, what next?

Well given that I know next to nothing about you, I assume you know the same about me. Though I hate to sound like a personal ad, I can tell you that I teach economics and statistics, the fun classes, at [my wonderful school]. I like music, books, baseball, and hiking/camping. Furthermore, I'm NOT a stalker, a homicidal maniac, or a drug addict.

I realize that doesn't really tell you much about me, but at least it's an introduction. If your curiosity has been piqued and you choose to write back, I look forward to hearing from you. If, though, you opt to run for the hills instead, well I understand. These things are kind of awkward after all.

Your turn,
[St. Caffeine]

Any thoughts or suggestions?