What the hell was she thinking?!

Did you hear about the 16 year-old girl from Michigan who flew to Jordan to meet in person somebody she had met on MySpace? Apparently, she was enamored with a (supposedly) wealthy 25 year-old man, who called himself "Abdullah," and he paid to fly her to the West Bank—one of the most dangerous places in the world. He wanted to marry her, he claimed. She's very lucky that her parents were able to get in touch with the U.S. Embassy and get to her before she met up with this man. While I can't say with any certainty that this man intended to cause this girl harm, the fact that he paid to have an obviously naive teenager fly to meet him is a pretty scary thought.

The really disturbing part about this situation is that this girl is an honor student. I swear, I don't know how people can be so bright in one regard while being completely clueless in another. I know she's just a teenager and that "all kids make mistakes," but when I was 16 I sure as hell would have known better than to fly to the Mideast to meet a complete stranger. (Even if I didn't know better, my parents sure as hell wouldn't have allowed me to get out of the state, let alone the country.) Look, I know that MySpace (and similar web sites) has a lot of positive aspects to it. Hell, if it wasn't for that web site, Stacey and I wouldn't be together right now. However, certain people should not be using that site—and that includes anybody under 18, in my book. There's really not much else to say.

-Mark

P.S. I posted a fantasy baseball update just before I posted this message, so check that out if you feel so inclined.