Guilt.

I confess: I may not have been straightforward with some of my Match suitors. I may have exchanged an email or two with them before deciding (1) they creeped me out (2) we peaked over the second email exchange (3) I was mistakenly interested.

I guess I'm feeling more guilty about the way I handled the situation(s). Instead of just coming out and saying something to the effect of "I don't think this is going to work," I play the passive aggressive card. Where I used to respond within hours, it now takes me days (or, sometimes, eternity). I also shy away from my usual (and generally highly regarded) sassy and flirtatious email banter voice and get straight to the point (the point, sadly, not being that I am no longer interested but, rather, a response to specific questions posed in their previous email). Is this mean? Absolutely. Uncommon practice? Highly unlikely. Better than being told flat out the interest level has waned? Debatable.

I'm feeling guilty. My guilt is selfish.

I feel like, because I've "rejected" these people, I can't go online for fear that they'll see me online and know, without a doubt, that I have ignored--and continue to ignore--their emails. But, people ignore mine all the time, so I guess it's a two way street. And, seriously, if they're stalking me and noticing when I'm online and when I've been online, then maybe I have bigger problems about which to worry.