In a city where restaurants close at 9 p. Your eyes might meet mid-asana in a yoga class at Prana, or they might be pouring themselves a cup of piping hot coffee right in front of you at a CreativeMornings breakfast lecture shameless plug. But during a global pandemic, which has left bars bare, canceled public events, and extinguished every would-be spark of a hopeful new encounter with the threat of a highly contagious virus, where are singles in Fort Wayne supposed to meet each other now?
After coming out of a serious relationship mid-quarantine, I, Olivia Lehman, have flung myself into the murky waters of dating. In Fort Wayne. During a pandemic. Ah, what I do for a paycheck! So where do we begin? For as long as eyes have been meeting across rooms, smirks have been tugging at lips, and butterflies have been fluttering in bellies, the first encounter with a potential partner has been a cherished experience that can set the tone for an entire relationship.
But now that everything in life is moving online during COVID, digital dating has officially become the new bar. The cute baristas still remain behind the counter, and some of the actual bar scene still exists with time and space restrictions, but we singles are taking this pandemic into our own handsโconnecting with past crushes on Instagram, swiping through new romantic interests on Hinge, and meeting new faces at virtual conferences.
Even before the pandemic, digital dating had been giving us introverted types a new way to meet people. Missed opportunity? Now I can whip out my phone and find you on Instagram to see if things will spark there.
And by move, I mean sliding a message into their private inbox. If you do muster up the courage to say something, either in-person or online, what do you say? Wanna cook together sometime? What do you think? Yes, my Hinge account revolves around finding the perfect cooking partner.
