Are you the type of person that just can not cast off people from their lives? Even friends you knew back in high school or college? Maybe you decided to go searching on the Internet for your high school sweetheart. Now, we all know how difficult it can be to find someone's email address when you have no phone number or address to search with, but let's assume that lo and behold, you have managed to locate it at one of the free or paid sites online where you can do reverse email searches.
Well that's great, and congratulations! However, it is at this point that some folks go overboard and make a few mistakes when trying to contact that lost love.
Remember, you do not know if your previous sweetie is attached or unattached, so I offer a few guidelines so that you follow some protocol when contacting this person.
First, if you happen to find out both the e-mail and also the regular address, please DO NOT decide to begin driving by their house periodically. Teenagers do that, it's expected, but when adults try this tactic it is referred to as "stalking."
So how to handle the situation? Well, if it's been a long time, your friend may not even remember you! And if they are married or attached, they may not appreciate you trying to track them down.
But let's assume that you are remembered, and your friend is unattached and would welcome reply from yourself. Go ahead and send a message but be sure to put who you are in the subject line because, with all the spam these days, many times folks just delete mail from people they do not know. So putting your name in the subject line will go a long way in ensuring they actually open the mail from you.
Keep things light. Mention that you ran across their address and just wanted to say hi and see how they were doing.
It would probably be a bad idea to mention you found them using a site that specializes in how to find someone's email address. Leave that part out of the conversation for now.
Once you have emailed back and forth a few times, met for coffee a few times, and oh, I do not know, 5 or so years have passed and you are still pals (or more), THEN you might mention about the stalking …. er searching for them online.
So once you find your info, keep it cool and light, and you may just find yourself buddies again with a long lost friend.
