CINDY, INCIDENTALLY:

When needing optimistic inspiration about romance, some may pick up a paperback romance novel, rent “The Notebook” or go for a Shakespeare play that weaves a tale of unrequited love.

Me? I head to craigslist.org and click on Missed Connections where hopeful ads written by smitten kittens are looking for a second chance to reconnect with a person they found and then lost.

People anonymously post on the bulletin boards and attempt to describe what they were wearing, when the moment of connection occurred, what they liked about the person and how/why the connection was missed.

It’s the message in the bottle of the 21st century and I can’t get enough of it.

“You came out of Marie Callenders … I moved my car back to let you pass. You said thank you. Are you free to converse over coffee or drinks,” reads one post from Fountain Valley.

“U were way too hot and we were making crazy eye contact,” describes a poster from Huntington Beach.

“I was with my friend near the cream cheese [aisle at the grocery store] … You said “hello” then walked away. You are cute! If you read this, let me know. I’m interested,” said one W4M from Huntington Beach.

“I could’ve sworn we had some eye locking going on. You are gorgeous, I’d definitely like to see you again,’ wrote M4W, 22.

“If you would like to hook up let me know .. I don’t want you to change your life, but let’s have some fun. I like the look you had in your eye,” a M4W in Huntington Beach wrote.

Not all the postings are sweet with sentiment. Some are inappropriate, salacious, suggestive and just silly.

There are a lot of postings from people who are hoping to reconnect with a lost love from another time in their life. There’s the girl looking for the first boy she kissed in elementary school, a waitress who no longer works at a particular bar or the neighbor who moved away from the area and is now back and would like to find his junior high sweetheart.

That’s the beauty of Missed Connections, for me anyway; it’s interesting to see what it was about a particular someone to cause the connection. A smile, the color of their shirt, maybe the car they were driving or how fast they sprinted down Pacific Coast Highway that made another runner think, “Who is she?”

Curious, I posted a query on Missed Connections and asked if it had ever worked for anyone; I did get a few responses, including a few from guys who thought maybe we could find a connection, even though we never missed one.

And I got one answer from a guy who said, “Yep, She was an amazing woman.”

He also warned me that more often than not the ads are scams and I should be careful before posting an ad for my Missed Connection beloved.

No missed connections here — not yet anyway. But it’s nice to know that in a time when romance has gone the way of love letters being sent via-text message, people are still falling in love across a crowded room.

CINDY ARORA is a freelance writer. She may be reached at [email protected].