New Pen Pals with (Humorous) Conversation Starters

Hey everyone, welcome to a new pen pal swap. As someone who loves penpalling, I tend to join or host the occasional pen pal swap here on Swap Bot. I've found that it can be tough to find lasting pen pals here, because the Swap Bot community varies a lot in age, location, and interests. Hence, the pen pal swaps I host tend to be oriented towards interests, so people have something to share and talk about. Today, though, I received a letter from someone who mentioned the introduction prompt can get a bit repetitive, and this gave me the idea for a different sort of pen pal swap.

For this swap you will get 3 partners, and you will send each of them 1 letter. Each letter must be written on A4 paper (about 8.3 x 11.7 inches, little more, little less), and must contain:

• a brief introduction (name, age, location, interests)

From there on, you fill your letter with at least 5 of the following prompts (at least 5 lines per prompt):

• two things you love (family, friends, other people you know, pets, etc. do not count), and why you love them

• two things that annoy you (again: family, friends, other people you know, pets, etc. do not count), and why they annoy you

• describe where you live (must contain: style of buildings/houses, lots/few trees and what sort of trees, smell, colors, people, sort of activity)

• your take on Donald Trump's run for presidency

• your take on Kanye West's anything

• your take on Steven Avery's verdict

• your take on public bathrooms

• why you prefer to be an omnivore/vegetarian/pescitarian/vegan

• your take on the word "shenanigans"

• your take on (at least) two of the following movies: A Fantastic Fear of Everything, All is Lost, American Hustle, Falling Down, Fifty Shades of Grey, Her, Magic Mike, The Purge, The Room, Wet Hot American Summer, Willow.

• why Bill Cosby is innocent/guilty

• why Bill Posters's prosecution is right/wrong (see picture)

• why you love or hate the Oxford comma

• your take on Tinder

• your take on 2 things mentioned in your swap partner's profile

• why you're in love/hate with any of the following actors/actresses (pick carefully, now): Aaron Paul, Chuck Norris, Demi Moore, Geena Lee Davis, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jake Gyllenhaal, Jean Claude van Damme, Jonah Hill, Katherine Heigl, Kevin Bacon, Rebel Wilson, Susan Sarandon, Steve Carell.

• your take on these prompts

I have no idea how few or many people are going to sign up for this, but there may be some who take a more serious approach and there may be some who take a more humorous approach. Be prepared for both ends of the spectrum and everything in between, which is to say: do not sign up if you're easily offended, or if controversy is a thing you prefer to avoid. The idea, of course, is that you will get into written conversation with someone (and that the conversation continues over time: lasting pen pals), so it also doesn't help if you prefer to keep your opinions to yourself.

That said, feel free to add to your letter by introducing your family, telling a bit about your hobbies, or whatever you feel like chatting about.

As a bonus, this swap will be Type 3 rated because it is time intensive.

Anyone with a rating of 4.98 can join. Those with recent 3 or 1 ratings might be banned, depending on reasons for the low ratings. No unrated users, but newbies might participate (depending on profile and recent swaps).

Well. Let's see how this pans out.

P.S. I will adjust the number of swap partners if 3 or less sign up.