When I first heard of Tinder, I rolled my eyes and said something to the effect of “Disgusting! That concept will never fly with women.”
It turned out I was literally the only person who felt that way. Before I knew it everyone seemed to be on Tinder. I tried to ignore it but it didn’t seem to be dying down. Every time I was out at a bar, I would hear giggles erupt from my girlfriends, when I asked what was so funny I would be shown a picture of some gross creature from Tinder. Or I would be at lunch with friends and the conversation would turn to an amazing night a girlfriend had with a guy she met on tinder. Whether people were using it as a joke or taking it seriously it was definitely a main stream dating platform and I had to face it. But nothing could have prepared me for the big Tinder shocker that came next.
Before I go too far, for those of you living under a rock and unaware of what Tinder is I will explain. If you are fully caught up on Tinder, you can skip ahead. So Tinder is a dating app that helps you find single people in your area. If you’re attracted to them, and they are attracted to you, both people are notified. If one of you is attracted and the other isn’t, neither is notified. If both parties don’t’ find each other attractive, they both go on their ways, never knowing what the other thinks. The information displayed on the platform is first names only, age, mutual interests and mutual friends.
Now that you are caught up let’s get back to it. I remember the morning I got the call, it was early. My best friend since 3rd grade, Sasha, popped up on my phone. I answered assuming we would commence our usual Sunday morning girl chat. To my surprise she was calling to announce her engagement to none other than her newly found Tinder boyfriend, Nate.
Yes you read the words right, not only had my friend secured a date that last more than one encounter on tinder. But she secured a husband! And to be honest he is pretty cool guy. Not a said gross troll describe earlier.
So how did Sasha score a husband on Tinder? Well this is how it went down. To start they both liked each other and were notified of the match. After a few quick messages they agreed to meet for their first date at a bar. This is a great choice for a first date. The obligation is not time stamped and provides a little more freedom for both people. Meaning Sasha was not locked into a 3 hour dinner, but instead could leave after one drink if she felt uncomfortable. Since the cat is out of the bag and you already know they got engaged, Sasha did not think he was creepy and in fact thought he was a complete sweet heart. The date turned into many drinks, they were laughing, dancing and having a lot of fun together.
After the first date, they met up again two days later to watch a hockey game. Sasha actually hates hockey, however these are the things you must ender when trying to secure a mate. You have to remember that relationship can be work at times and even in the beginning days you must make small sacrifices in order to show your appreciation to your partner. The 2nd date was just as good as the first, if not better. The only problem was because they had met on Tinder, both Sasha and Nate were dating other people. Of course, Tinder is really for people looking to hookup. Most people do have a few different girls or guys on the go. Think about it, Tinder is a site in which you can easily access a variety of people located close to you. Not every date is going be a success, so having multiple connections is a great strategy when trying to find the right person.
Sasha was really keen to make this work so she let her other guys know pretty quickly that she was unavailable. Nate however had a bit of larger dilemma, he and his other girl had gotten a little more serious. He even had a plane ticket bought to go visit her. Although I was turned off by this fact, Sasha was not. Nate did end up calling the girl and letting her know that he wouldn’t be flying out to visit and cut the relationship off. So I guess Sasha knew more than I did.
A couple months she announced the engagement. As I listened to her speak about the proposal and the wedding plans, I knew that she had really found the right guy for her. Reflecting back now, I think I was too quick to judge Tinder. The world is offering us so many great ways to connect and you never know who you will find until you try. It is so easy to just put a blank judgement on something new and say “I never will I try that”, but in reality when you are trying to find a life partner you have to try it all. Much like anything else in life, in order to be successful you have to be willing to fail or in this case go on a few creepy dates. I am now much less judgemental of Tinder, but still not ready to jump in…yet.
