Mambo Italiano - A Restaurant Review

Category: Food and Restaurants

Yesterday, Sunday April 13, 2008 just before 7PM I pulled into the strip mall that has a relatively new Italian restaurant called Mambo Italiano. It is on Butterfield Rd in Mundelein IL As soon as you walk in, you lose the feel that you are in a strip mall. The lighting was subdued, the walls were a warm brown painted in such a way as to give the impression of old weathered stucco or plaster. Tables were covered in white linen and topped with butcher paper. Salmon colored bread and butter dishes were topped with neatly folded mauve colored napkins.

The hostess desk is set back a bit into the restaurant, so you have to walk past a few tables to get there. I was behind a middle-aged couple who arrived at the same time I did. There were two girls at the hostess stand. They greeted the couple and one of the girls took them away to their table. The girl left behind did not make eye contact with me at all. She was more interested in answering the phone. A moment later a man, most likely the manager or owner came over and said hello. "Just me!" I announced as he was about to ask if I was going to be joined by others.

A lone diner. I threw him off and he didnt' know what to do with me, so he interrupted the girl on the phone and asked her which section was last sat. She snapped an answer at him as yet another girl came to the hostess stand. The man asked her if a certain server was just sat and she snapped back that she didn't know either. It all came across as bickering. I didn't think this was a good first impression, but I decided to stick it out because I was really craving Italian food.

Finally, the man decided where to put me and took me through an empty dining room into another well-seated one. I was given a booth at the window, I thanked him and took my place. I was rather disappointed to be at the window because the view of the parking lot through the white shears reminded me that I was indeed in a strip mall. I believe I would have enjoyed the ambiance farther back in the space. But, I was there for the food. So, I didn't ask to be re-seated.

The manager handed me a menu and removed the extra place settings. As he was doing this I inquired as to what the specialty was there. His answer was, "Everything," which is not what a patron wants to hear. When someone asks me that where I work, I know exactly what to say. Because the truth is, you can't be great at everything, but you CAN be known to be excellent for some special things. So, this was a red flag for me.

I looked at the menu which was a large piece of cardboard with printing on both sides. Much to my dismay, the wines were not on it and there was no wine list on the table. Another faux pas. A solo diner should be treated no differently than a group. A wine list should have been given to me like everyone else.

Seven minutes went by before I my waiter, Mark arrived at the table. I was actually just about to leave, and he got there in the nick of time. When he arrived he asked if I was waiting for someone and he was surprised when I told him that I was flying solo. Then I really through him off when I asked what his favorite meal was there. He said it was a tough question. Why? I wondered.

He regrouped, told me there was bread in the oven for me and then decided instead of answering the question, he would tell me all about the specials. He knew his specials very well and recited the precisely. As he did this, he did happen to mention that the ribeye special was his favorite dinner and that the Marsala was his favorite sauce. He asked if I had any questions. I replied, "No. I'll have the veal parmesian." THEN he asked if I would like something to drink. Silly me, I threw him off again by asking for the wine list.

Five minutes later he brought the wine list. Obvoiusly this kid did not know how important it was to get a drink in the hands of his customers FAST, because once they have one, they won't pay so much attention to the time everything takes. It took way too long for him to check back with me for my selection, but I will say, once I ordered the Ruffino Chianti Classico (Tan), he was quick about getting it to me. Finally!

The entrees come with soup or salad. I opted for the salad and asked for caesar dressing. I was not informed that this would cost me an extra $2.00, which I found out later when I got the check. The salad was fresh, but was tossed in way too much dressing. The bread, which was brought by the bus boy earlier was warm and rather bland. I took advantage of the bottle of olive oil on the table, but noticed that I was not offered freshly grated cheese. No. There was pre-grated cheese in a shaker on the table. This was quite an incongruity for the atmosphere, food selection and pricing. In fac, it was disappointing.

I sipped my wine and enjoyed the salad as I was waiting for my meal to arrive. Bus staff were attentive and took my plate in a timely manner. The waiter brought the entree himself and asked if he could bring anything else. I told him to check back soon as I would be ready for another glass of wine to drink with my meal, and off he went.

The portion of veal almost completely filled the plate which also had a small portion of little penne with marinara sauce on it. The veal was pounded paper thin and was very tender, but the breading was way too thick and overwhelmed the flavor of the veal. The sauce was sweet ans spicy, with the most robust flavor being sweet onion. I could not discern any garlic or Italian herbs. The cheese on top was an excellent blend and very generous. I will say that I was surprised by the penne, as I expected the traditional spaghetti. There was no choice of pasta shape given when ordering.

The waiter took too long to come by for me to order that second glass of wine, but I ordered it anyway. Again, he was quick in bringing it.

I ate about a third of the portion bought to me. When I pushed the plate away, it still took quite a bit of time for Mark to return to the table. he asked if I would like to have that packed up and of course I agreed. He was about to drop my check before offering me dessert and coffee. In fact I had to request the dessert menu and I was never offered coffee. This kid needs to learn about suggestive selling! I asked him what his favorite dessert was after he dropped the menu, and he immediately answered with "Our homemade Tiramisu." I was surprised at the homemade comment and said so, and he said they also make homemade canoli and cannoli puffs. I immediately ordered a cannoli without looking at the rest of the dessert menu.

When he brought the cannoli he also left the check. As he speeded away I said, I hope its as good as Little Italy in New York. He barely turned his head to acknowledge my comment with a laugh. I never saw Mark again. Since the place emptied, I guess he chose to do his side work and not attend to the solo diner that was left in his section.

I put cash in the check presenter, and walked through the now mostly empty restaurant. After I passed the two hostesses and manager who were talking to each other, one of the hostesses thanked me and wished me a good night.

Overall rating on a 1-5 scale: 3.5
Food: 4
Service: 3
Ambience: 4
Hospitality: 3

Dining Alone

Category: Food and Restaurants

Today I managed the Sunday Brunch at work and when I was through with my shift at around 6:30 this evening, I decided that I wanted to take myself out to eat. Myself. that's it. Just me. I do this semi-regularly and it is always an interesting experience. Not everyone can do it. I don't know if it takes moxie, self assurance, or just the pure enjoyment of eating, which, after all is the "other" sensual pleasure available to us in life.

I have, on occasion, been ignored when dining alone. Some hosts and servers seem to have difficulty wrapping their heads around the concept that someone would eat at a restaurant sans companionship. It makes them uncomfortable! How funny is that? Their role doesn't change. They must simply do their jobs like they do countless other times each day they work. What is it about a solo diner that throws people off their game?

I wonder if the restaurant folk are concerned that a person is lonely? They may be. Or they may just find themselves needing to grab a meal when their significant other is away, or busy. Or perhaps, they had a rough day and want time to process things so that they don't have to bring their troubles home to their families. Maybe they are in town on business and need to eat. Or perhaps, they just want to treat themselves to a nice meal that they would not or could not prepare for themselves.

Now, since I have been "taking myself out to eat" for most of my adult life, one would think that I would get it. I do. And in fact, over the years as I have become more and more comfortable with eating out alone, I find myself in the role of putting others at ease with it. It's no big deal to me. But, I make light and instead of saying "One" as I am greeted, acknowledge or sometimes stared at with bewilderment by the Host, I usually smile brightly and say something like, "I'm flying solo tonight!" in a very perky voice. It's amazing how something so simple can remove a look of concern as they ponder where to put just one person.

You would think that seating one person would be easy. It's not. Personally, I never understood why it seemed to throw them off. But that was before I became a server and restaurant manager myself. You see, no server wants a "1-top" because they won't make as much money from one person as they would from a party of 2, 4 or more. That is a a truth. However, as a server, I have on several occasions so far, and hopefully many more to come, been enriched by taking care of my "1-tops."

A person dining alone is rare. As a server who often dines alone, I recognize this, understand both sides, and take advantage of it. It's much easier to engage a solo diner in conversation. I always ask what the occasion is that brings them out on their own. This is usually all that is necessary to hear all about their business trip or that they are "bach-ing" it for the night, or that the kids were driving her crazy and she just needed to have some solitude in the adult world. These are fabulous opportunities to have a very real human connection in an otherwise superficial venue.

When I am in the dining seat, I also attempt to engage my server. Some are put off by this and some jump right in and welcome the connection. I have had some really good conversations with wait staff over the years. Some people serve because they need money, some because they have no other skills, some because they love the social nature of the job, or a combination of these or other factors.. It is easy to find out with a smile and few friendly questions. If the server is open I will watch as my curiosity about them brightens their mood. When that happens, we both have a good experience.

The other thing I do as a solo diner is make sure that my presence in a server's section is worth their while. In other words, I am a good tipper. I never leave less than 20% when dining alone. And when I revisit a place, this is then known about me and it changes how I am treated and perceived.

Tonight, I was in the mood for Italian and took myself to a relatively new place that I have been wanting to try: Mambo Italiano. My next blog will be my version of a restaurant review of my experiences there not only as a sole diner, but as a food lover.

Loss Sucks

Current mood:Unsettled
Category: Life Six months after my last blog entry and the theme of loss continues. And, I must tell you... it sucks. Here's a recap:

September 2006: David breaks up with me

December 2006: I lose my thyroid via surgery due to CA

January 2007: Uncle Bob, an important father figure to me, loses his battle with ALS

July 2007: My own father loses his battle with lung cancer. (This is the big one.)

August 2007: My job is eliminated

October 2007: My cousin Brian loses his battle with alcoholism

January 2008: A dear lady who adopted me into her family out here in IL, Joan Twarowski dies of cancer after a long fight.

March 2008: Aunt Ethel dies at age 94. (I was planning a trip to see her this spring.)

That is a hell of a lot of loss and I have to tell you, it's too much for one person to deal with alone. I realize that the other people in the family have experienced most of these losses as well. What makes it different for me however, is that I am alone. Everyone else has spouses and/or children depending on them. No one depends on me. And so.... I also find myself grieving the loss of my chance at motherhood.

Alone and grieving is not a good place to be. It is horribly depressing and I'm not a generally depressed person, so feeling down was alien to me. In fact it is dibilitating. I have been paralized. I have been nonfunctional If I hadn't had my little dog, Ozzy, I don't know that I would have survived at all. He is what I know I have to take care of every day. Everything else, I didn't care about.

Now I am finally wanting to choose life and fight my way out of this abyss. I need help, but I know not who to ask. Hell, I don't even know what kind of help I need, for that matter. I have made a mess of my finances. I seem to be afraid of everything. The only thing that keeps me going is work. And even that is not the best. I need to find a regular job, with benefits, but I am so mired in grief that I don't know what I want to look for or where to begin.

I think about moving back to New Jersey so that I can be close to family again, but I really don't want to go back there. I would much rather have everyone move out here to Chicagoland!

Floundering in limbo is what life is right now.

The only thing I have really worked on and enjoyed in the past year or so is the novel that I am writing. I have made some good progress and hope to finish it in the next few months or so. Then I will have to figure out how to go about getting it published. The problem is that it is a very well written and very erotic novel. So what kind of publisher would touch it? I'm thinking I'll have to send it to Larry Flynt or Bob Guccione, but I would prefer it be picked up by a decent publishing house and marketed towards couples. I have let few people read experpts and have received some fabuous feedback. The recurring theme of the feedback is that it is well written and VERY HOT. There is enough plot to hook women into caring about the characters and yet has the kind of language that men find.... um.... shall we say, "stimulating." I think it could be a great erotic bedtime story for couples. It could be the catalyst for mutual fantasy exploration.

I was originally concerned about embarrassing the family and considered using a pseudonym when I sought publication. After much thought, it became clear that I have to put my name on it, because I'm always the one saying that Americans need to stop sweeping sex under the rug and start talking about it. I mean, by the age of 15, a teenager could probably tell you more than a hundred ways to kill another person but not be able to tell you how to please another person. The paranoia over nudity and sexual content is ridiculous to me. Shouldn't we show how to treat each other well in our media and not how to kill each other? I would like to see more loving relationships on TV that admit to sexual relations. The only show that I watch that continually goes there is a cartoon! Family Guy actually explores in a very clever and funny way the sex life of a married couple. It's genius! Seth MacFarlane even showed bdsm fetish play between Peter and Lois.

OK... I'm done rambling for the moment. This blog took on a direction all its own, but I am going to take the risk and post it anyway.

An Update

Category: Life

My cousin Brian, who I wrote about in my last entry, died at 12:05PM October 5, 2007. His wake was Monday and his funeral was yesterday. I cannot imagine what it was like for his wife, daughters, sisters and mother to watch him commit a protracted alcohol-induced suicide. As a cousin, I found it painful to see and my heart goes out to all of those who love Brian. I didn't say "loved" because we don't stop loving when someone dies.

The truth is that my memories of Brian are ones of childhood. I didn't really know him as an adult. I learned a lot about him over the past few days. For instance he was a member of the Elk's club and had been honored as "Elk of the Year" back in the 90's. His family and friends talk about his cooking, especially his kielbasa and the baking of cakes. Apparently his cakes were legendary amongst his family and friends. He had a vegetable garden and grew tomatoes which he shared as well.

One particularly endearing story was that he liked to feed the birds and the squirrels, but was none too happy when the squirrels tried to hone in on the birds' food. He didn't like that they would scurry up the pole on which the birdfeeder sat and eat what was meant for the birds, while they had a perfectly good block of food meant for them, down below. The remedy to this was for Brian to grease the pole so that the squirrels couldn't make it to the top. Of course this provided a continual source of amusement as the critters would attempt their pole climbing only to get to a certain height before sliding down, down, down.

Some of the Elks and some of Brian's friends got up and talked about him, sharing silly and/or heartfelt memories. Brian was loved. I wonder if he knew that. He had a large circle of friends. I wonder if he knew how important he was to them. I wish he could have had a "George Bailey" moment where he was made acutely aware of the positive impact he had on peoples' lives. Perhaps he would have chosen a different path. I wish we could all have those moments in our lives when we need them. I believe we would make different choices if we knew we mattered. I certainly would like to know if I matter.

Brian.... YOU mattered. You were and are loved. You will be missed. I hope you can see that, now.

My cousin, Brian

Current mood: scared
Category: Life

I love my cousin, Brian. He's the closest to me in age, just six months apart (he's older). We used to play together as kids. As a young adolescent girl, I had a crush on him. I wonder if he remembers this. When we were 9 or 10, we would disappear from family parties and walk around with our arms around each other. Oh we knew the whole, "you can't marry your first cousin" thing. We were just playing. It was safe and innocent. My most salient memory of doing this with Brian was at Aunt Ada & Uncle Jim's house. They lived on the lagoon in Toms River then and there were some wetlands down the block. I think it was the occasion of Grampy's 100th birthday and we took a walk to the wetlands and stood in the cattails holding hands and talking. I had no idea what Brian's reality was at that moment, nor did I know what it would become later.

My cousin Brian has not had an easy life. In fact, some of it has been downright heartrending. He and I were close as kids and though as adults we had contact only at family parties, weddings & funerals, we always sought each other out to catch up and talk. He has always been special to me, although I am not sure he knows that or how much.

Brian was raised in an indescribably abusive household with his two sisters, one older and one younger. His father was a raging alcoholic who was a violent, beligerent, ugly drunk. (I didn't know this until I was well into my adulthood and I do not pretend to know what he or anyone in that household truly experienced.) One would think that kind of environment would harden a person's heart. Not Brian's.

In high school, he fell in love; head over heals and over the moon in love with Janine. They adored each other and truly lived for each other and even a "blind man running for his life" could see it plain as day. Their sweet young love had to grow up rapidly when Janine became pregnant. They had no money and no plan, but they had a beautiful daughter, Amanda. Their life as a family was a struggle of which I know very little, but what I do know is that the love held them together and gave them what they needed to keep going.

Soon there was another daughter, Jessica, equally beautiful to her big sister. A few years later, their son Brian was born. Each addition made things harder, I'm sure. But every time I saw them they were smiling and enveloped in a palpable love. It was amazing.... and enviable.

Somewhere along the way, Brian started drinking and ultimately became an alcoholic, like his father. This caused a whole new set of challenges for the young family. Alcoholism is insidious and its tendriles reach deep into the lives of those it touches. No one remains unaffected.

Brian's trade as an electrician was greatly effected by his alcoholism. He couldn't keep jobs, and soon he found it harder and harder to get jobs. Eventually, it became such that he was at the mercy of IBEW assignments, and even those became sparse. All of this meant that Janine had to work that much harder.

There were other life circumstances which affected the family too and it got harder and harder and harder. The truth is I don't know even a miniscule amount of what they lived through. But still, no matter what their lives were like, when you saw Brian and his family it was all about loving each other.

A little less than two years ago, this family was struck with an enormous tragedy. Brian, the youngest, was killed in an accident on his quad ATV. He was 21. The wake and funeral for this young man was one of the utterly sad occasions I had experienced to that day. It is an understatement to say that his parents and sisters were devastated. There are no words to describe the enormity of despair with which they were faced. There was much weeping, crying and sobbing to be sure. The extended family came from far and near to support them however they could. Whatever we did, was feeble in the face of such a tragedy. Miraclulously, in the midst of it all, that deep, abiding, steadfast love was still tangibly there and somehow bigger than ever.

I wish everyone who reads this could see a love like Brian Janine and his family share, or better yet, experience it. I know I have not had it. I came close once, but didn't recognize it until it was gone. I will always regret squandering what may have been my only chance at it. It's the only regret I have in my life.

OK. So why am I writing this? I am writing this because right now, my dear cousin Brian is in a hospital with liver failure and toxic blood. He is clinging to life, and he has said, apparently more than once to more than one person that he doesn't want to live anymore. I have to tell you ... I don't know what to think about that... or what to feel. I am 800 miles away and helpless. Realistically, if I were right next to him, I would still be helpless. I know this. But being there is comfort in some strange, sick, inexplicable way.

I want him to know that the goodness in him which is the love he has for his wife and children does not go unnoticed. I want him to know that the innocent little sparks of adult feelings that I had for him when I was a child are precious to me. I want him to know that HE is precious to me. Regardless of time or miles, he is precious to me. I want him to know that all of us who love him want him to choose life. I want him to choose life. I want him to choose WHOLE life. I don't want him to just recover physically only to maintain his alcoholism until it claims him later. I want him to choose to live fully, to feel all of the pain that he has been trying to keep at bay with booze. I want him to know he will survive the pain. I want him to know that he will survive memories of his childhood. I want him to know that the love will help him... support him... sustain him. I want him to know what I think he doesn't know, which is that HE is loveable, and valuable, and good, and wanted, and deserving. Mostly I want him to know that no matter the demons of his past, his soul remains perfect and innocent, the way it was created and that he can reclaim it all. It will hurt, it will suck, it will be really difficult, but he is capable! I want him to know that it was harder to drown his shit in alcohol for decades than it will be to work through the truth.

Choose life, my dear cousin. Choose LIFE! I love you.

Epilogue

Current mood: pensive
Category: Romance and Relationships

I have a little addition to my previous blog entry. The guy responded to me with: "LOL I read some of what you wrote andI think I get the idea. Best of luck to you."

I responded with, "God forbid you read the whole thing! Talk about lazy!" And then, I blocked him.

The Trials & Tribulations of Match.com

The trials and tribulations of Match.com
Current mood: amused
Category: Romance and Relationships

I have been a subscriber on Match.com for almost a year. My profile has always been intelligent and playful. I have the same main picture there as I do here. For the first six months, I reset the counter for profile views. For the last 5.5 months, during which, as of this writing I was viewed 1,031 times, I did not. My subscription runs out during the first week of September and I am not planning to renew. Why? Because I am fed up.

So, last week I changed a few things on my profile in anticipation of my departure. My headline used to read, "Snopes! No urban legend here. Fabulous woman looking for wonderful man." Now it reads, " Fabulous woman looking for wonderful man has given up. My profile has been viewed over 1000 times in 6 months. I'm done."

I also added one paragraph to my "Intro." It's the second one. My introductory essay reads:

Curvy? A few extra pounds? Big & Beautiful? What do these describe? I can't figure it out. I'll never be a skinny mini, but I'll workout with you & improve. OK? Exercising together is more fun! I am much more interested in depth of character than "looks" anyway! You?

Here's what I've learned from almost one year on Match.com: that 1) men don't know a good thing when it hits them in the face. 2) They cut you off before you have a chance, 3) don't respond politely when you wink at them, 4) communicate in ways in writing that they would NEVER do face-to-face before knowing someone and 5) are ridiculously unaware of the fact that women of substance are far more passionate than those little things who think they just have lay there! And so I am done. I give up. You win. I will be alone and happy rather than searching and miserable from multiple rejection. It is most definitely your loss!!

I know that I'm fun, smart, playful, sensual & passionate. I know I want someone who is all of those things too. I like to be silly and serious... sometimes simultaneously!

I'm honest & strive to behave with integrity. Ask me anything! I want people to be as open with me as I am. I'll ask you open ended questions & want more than 1-word answers. Give me all the details because they are part of your story. We are the sum of our experiences which are made of moments of details. If we know how we got to be who we are, we can decide who we will become & where we're going.

I love my time with friends & my alone time. I hope you do too. It's important that you have interests of your own. Of course I may want to learn about them, so I can learn about you. OK? I hope you get into some of mine too! But I won't hone in, unless invited!

I would like it if you were comfortable enough with yourself to enjoy personal alone time. I am a deep thinker, very introspective & analytical. So, we can have some regular time alone, then when we spend time together we will have experiences and thoughts to share.

Mostly, I want man with whom to share mutual respect... one who I accept for who he is... I want who will accept me for who I am and also accept all of the love, passion and life I have to share!

Looking at things from the positive is so important to me. How do you see things? Still reading? Drop me an e-mail.

I think that is a pretty good intro, sans that second paragraph. And it got me nowhere. Well, oddly enough since I have made these alterations, I have gotten more responses than I had in months. This one today took the cake. It really irked me so I thought I would share the message and my response here in my blog. Here goes:

The subject of the message from this dude was "5 things"

you didn't ask for a comment but i did

5 things:
1.you are probably right, but could be said the same as woman and while you are right, we really don't want to hear it
2. the plain and simple truth is that men and women are visual creatures, so either you are attracted to someone or not, you have to get someone interested enough to get past the pic to read the profile and then have something in the profile to make them interested, you have too many pics, the one of you standing is nice as is the head shot with the hair in your face
3. winks are the lazy man's or woman's attempt to gain interest, if one is indeed interested, write an e-mail, invest the time
4. you are correct, a lot of asshole men out there, don't think woman respond as crudely as a asshole man would
5. sounds like you are a little bitter

don't give up

riccardo

Here was my response:

You are right. I didn't ask for a comment and don't appreciate yours.

1.you are probably right, but could be said the same as woman and while you are right, we really don't want to hear it

What you care to hear is none of my concern. I said what I needed to say. Deal with it or shut up.

2. the plain and simple truth is that men and women are visual creatures, so either you are attracted to someone or not, you have to get someone interested enough to get past the pic to read the profile and then have something in the profile to make them interested, you have too many pics, the one of you standing is nice as is the head shot with the hair in your face

Visual is fine, but solely visual is shallow and childish. You have as many pics of yourself as I do. Just because I added some of my photography to show my creativity doesn't mean I have too many. Who are you to judge me anyway?

3. winks are the lazy man's or woman's attempt to gain interest, if one is indeed interested, write an e-mail, invest the time

Could you possibly be any more judgmental? Your profile is loaded with "mightier than thou" comments. You are more arrogant than the people you purport to despise, just about different things. Your tone is attacking and aggressive. Until I added my "giving up" paragraph this week, my profile was intelligent and playful, but that wasn't good enough, because men here on Match.com don't get passed their primeval brain and into their cerebral cortex long enough to know that chemistry is far more than looks. People become more beautiful or more ugly as you get to know them based on their personality and character.

Again I say: Who are you to judge? Get over yourself.

4. you are correct, a lot of asshole men out there, don't think woman respond as crudely as a asshole man would

This comment is unintelligible and grammatically incorrect. It is senseless, but I believe I am intelligent enough to extrapolate the meaning.

Yes. Men can be assholes... but I still adore them. Women can be assholes too and I couldn't live without some of my friends.

For some reason you thought your comments would teach me something. They did. You are obviously one of the assholes.

5. sounds like you are a little bitter

Bitter? Absolutely not! Resigned would be a better descriptor. A bitter person would not choose happiness in their solitude.

I believe you are the bitter one. Your profile indicates quite a large chip on your shoulder about the world. Perhaps you should think about how what you say is a projection onto others about how you feel about yourself. Read some Freud if you don't understand that last sentence. Oh wait! You don't like to read. You'd rather watch the movie! And yet you judge others for winking rather than emailing and call it lazy. How hypocritical. Reading isn't risky. Winking and/or emailing someone here on Match.com is risking yourself.

Sorry if I used big words. There are on-line dictionaries to help you. Oh... and there's "Shift" key on your computer to capitalize letters appropriately as well as punctuation marks with which to end sentences, among other uses.

Next time, keep your opinion to yourself. You are no expert on anything and had no business saying what you did. I will give up on Match.com if I wish. Don't tell me or anyone else what to do. It is not your place.

Have a good day and please do not respond.

These are the kinds of things I have gotten. Who do these people think they are? It amazes, irks and on some sick level amuses me, so I thought I'd put it here.