Have we lost the Meet Cute?

Happy Sunday folks. I hope you’ve all had a smashing weekend so far. 

I would like to write about a few things today.. So get comfy & grab your coffee (or wine..)  I have mine.

Coffee Cup by Andrea Young – Wattlefield Pottery

I’ve not long been single & I’ve not been single for a long time, so I expected a few changes to the dating game. 

I’ve been wondering about the opportunities we have to meet a potential suitor now & how they’ve changed over time. 

Then…

Before the 1900’s dating could be considered a crime… a new and bizarre concept of a young man and woman meeting in public, him buying her food & drink.. it was veritable prostitution in the eyes of the law, and women could be arrested for it. (Mental Floss)

As we moved into the 1920’s – 30’s dating became much more common, and the offering of lavish gifts to potential female suitors began.

By the 1960’s, in alignment with women’s movements, and the emergence of the birth control pill, a sexual revolution began & the beginning of the ‘hook up’ culture.  (Bogle, Kathleen.)

Now..

Today we have a multitude of options at our fingertips. The internet caters to every individual dating need, from ‘Uniform only’ sites, to places we can find local company for just one night, or a ‘sugar daddy’ to fulfil our materialistic desires. 

Then of course there’s Tinder.

 I downloaded the popular app Tinder after hearing so much about it & curiosity overcoming me. I decided I’d do it in the name of research.. 

Unlike other dating platforms, where users write a plentiful profile offering fluffy information such as star signs, pets & smarts, Tinder works on distance & face value basis where very little info is provided. 

A swipe left instantly rejects the face looking at you, and a swipe right will grant you access to a conversation – if they swipe right back at you. 

Many of us live busy lives, and have very little time to commit to searching for a partner, so this is a super quick, convenient method of meeting people nearby. 

However… Are we getting a little swipe happy?! Could we be rejecting somebody who is actually very compatible on the quality of their profile picture…? 

So, once you’ve ‘matched’ with somebody the opportunity to converse appears. Once the initial.. “Who messages first?!” Debacle has been overcome the real game begins. 

The Traditional Way. 

We’ve all seen it in the movies; they’re at the bakers; they both want the same loaf of artisan sourdough.. There’s one left.. Their hands touch.. Eyes meet.. Bam. They forget about the bread. 

I began to wonder if this existed in real life.. Especially now, with the rise of online dating… Have we lost the meet cute? 

I didn’t expect my question to be answered so quickly..

I met with my Mumma friends to visit a local county fayre yesterday.

We tried so hard to get this picture…

We paid for the mini’s to play on the bouncy castle.. While we had a natter. 

I sat Jasper on a hay bale to take off his shoes.. He reached backwards & almost knocked over a cup.. I reached to grab it, and so did somebody else. 

We’ll call him Raven (we were at raveningham fayre..).

Lovely dark hair, well kept beard & a smile to swoon at. We grinned at eachother like school children for longer than I’d like to admit. 

When the bounce time was up I grabbed my mei tai & started to put Jasper on my back. Raven came straight over to offer a safety spot & start a conversation. 

He quickly and subtly let me know he was single, we established some common ground in babywearing, smiled a whole lot & I left him my number with a view to meet for coffee. 

I don’t think it was even 30 minutes later before I received a message. 

The point is – Raven & I may not actually be compatible. We may not actually meet eachother again.. But we stepped out of our comfort zones, and out from behind our phones, and had a face to face conversation without having to swipe for approval initially. 

It was atmospherical, gently flirtatious, and refreshingly exhilarating.

Does it matter?!

Does how we meet a person have an impact on the type of relationship we could potentially have? 

Is it better to have a spark and then get to know eachother… Or get to know eachother online & then find out if there is a spark when you finally meet up?

If you’ve fallen in love with somebody..I guess it doesn’t really matter how you fell, just that you did. 

Watch this space for a potential Raven date…