another question for my fellow EHers

The fact that the OP is getting into such a funk over this makes me wonder if they are not a good match after all. Personally when I see something like that, it brightens my day and would not send me to the boards for advice. As so many posters have said, it just begs for a humorous response.

Exactly. I guess I'm not used to this sort of thing, so it threw me a bit. In all of my on-off relationship with EH, I've never had a match start off OC like that. It's always been a quick, friendly, straightforward
note to say hi. The one other thing that caught my attention about this guy was that on his profile, for his occupation he put "tell you later." Now I'm not one to pick and choose a guy based on his career, but what's with all the secrecy? I mean, is this guy in the Mafia or something?

Very true DF, unless it seems … hmmm… off somehow from the rest of his profile or the previous style of their communication up to that point, kwim?

In the past I’ve had some matches that show zeroooo humor or creativity anywhere in their profile or previous answers. If I even made it far enough to OC with them, it would seem strange to have such a bold showing of it right off the bat like this. Maybe that’s why OP seems ‘in a funk’ over it – that it strikes her outside the ‘norm’ from what she’s seen so far ? Just guessing here. I don’t really know.

Then again, maybe there are other things in his profile (like the “tell you later” occupation listed she’s already mentioned) that also aren’t sitting right with her, and this just adds to it?
OP ??

The one other thing that caught my attention about this guy was that on his profile, for his occupation he put "tell you later." Now I'm not one to pick and choose a guy based on his career, but what's with all the secrecy? I mean, is this guy in the Mafia or something?

Well DF, I don't think I am "in a funk" over this, as you say. That is a bit extreme, don't you think? I just decided to post here to see what my fellow EHers think, since I'm sure we've all had matches who have said something that maybe didn't register with us or seemed a little off.

The "tell you later" part about his occupation did seem odd, as I think knowing what a person does for a living makes for an interesting conversation topic. It helps you get to know a little more about them. One match I had the last time I was on EH was a Navy helicopter pilot. In our conversations, I learned a lot of interesting things about him, his job and what all goes on during deployment. I did not really have a good idea of what Navy life was like before I talked with him, so it was a learning experience. I am puzzled by why this current match does not say what he does. It's seems a bit secretive and I don't know why anyone would want to be secretive unless they worked for the CIA, the mob or something like that!

And now that somebody has mentioned it, I did wonder about a couple of other things, too. In the part where it says, "The most important thing so-and-so is looking for in a woman," he wrote, "I am tired of people playing games and not communicating." Well, this little Dear Abby question does seem like a bit of a game, no?

Also, he put that he is Jewish and one of his must-haves was spiritual acceptance. From his profile up to that point, I got the impression that his spirtuality was very important to him, so I thought it would be interesting to find out more. In the last round of questions, I chose "Describe your spirituality" as one of my three. This is what he wrote and I don't think it was a straight answer to the question:
My spirituality (I am guessing you mean religion) I think religion is a personal thing and I do not push my values or religion on anyone and I do not want anyone else's religion pushed on me. No one can tell you your spirituality is wrong nor should they. Your relationship with God or Allah, or whatever is your business.

OK, I get that and I agree with what he was saying here, but it wasn't answering the question. I'm interested in learning more about him specifically and his spirituality.

And before anybody else says it, I know I've spent too much time analyzing this match, but other posters' responses have brought up other questions that made me think more about his profile and his answers.

Exactly. I guess I'm not used to this sort of thing, so it threw me a bit. In all of my on-off relationship with EH, I've never had a match start off OC like that. It's always been a quick, friendly, straightforward
note to say hi. The one other thing that caught my attention about this guy was that on his profile, for his occupation he put "tell you later." Now I'm not one to pick and choose a guy based on his career, but what's with all the secrecy? I mean, is this guy in the Mafia or something?

reword this post as a letter to Dear Abby and send it to him as your response.

Of all the initial e-mail communications I would make in OC, his is the last that would come to my mind. It just doesn't make sense to picture a scenario of one writing a Dear Abby letter recounting a first date, when a first date hasn't actually occurred yet. If he would have said something like, "What would your Dear Abby letter say if you were describing the best/worst date you could have?", or something to that effect, that would make a little more sense.

I'm not looking for a prizing-winning initial communication, but I would certainly want it to be something somewhat substantive. What he did is just trying a little too hard, in my opinion.