L A Affairs How the pandemic taught me to switch up my dating game

TVNET3 November 4, 2021 4:03 pm

I found myself at yet another bar on a Saturday night, searching the room and asking the same question: Will I meet someone tonight? Going out and trying to meet “The One” had almost become a chore. My friends and I would spend hours getting ready, only to be faced with disappointment and frustration when the cute guy across the room couldn’t muster up the courage to talk to us (or perhaps had too much of an ego to initiate conversation). And the guy who did get a phone number merely became a pen pal for a few weeks before ghosting. It was exhausting, to say the least. But then the world changed. I was in law school as the pandemic seeped its way into California and took hold of Los Angeles. I had no idea that I would be finishing my last semester online at “Zoom University” and taking the bar exam months later remotely. What proved more shocking was how my personal life transformed overnight; my social calendar packed with birthdays, weddings, networking events and the like vanished. And then it hit me: Where and how was I supposed to meet someone now? I had never been fond of online dating. Although I had met some guys over the years on apps and even had some matches grow to become relationships, I preferred meeting someone in person. On apps, conversations lacked substance and swiping left and right became a mindless game without purpose. Despite my convictions, the optimist in me kept swiping because, well, what did I have to lose? As the L. A. dating scene came to a drastic and unprecedented halt, I was back on the apps in full gear with updated photos and prompts, hoping the new norm had drawn a fresh crowd of suitors to my swiping queue. Within days, conversations over drinks at the Huntley Hotel and Harlowe took a back seat to a mere “Hey” and superficial “What’s your Insta? ” on Hinge, and chatting with the locals and tourists at Bungalow was replaced with waiting for matches to respond back to me on Bumble. If dating apps were supposed to make the process easier, why did I find them so frustrating and difficult? Exasperated by conversations that were dead before they even started, I found myself driving the empty streets of my city and recalling memories at bars and restaurants around town from what seemed like another lifetime. As I drove past E. P. & L. P., I thought of the sweet guy who complimented me on my smile and kept me entertained for over an hour with his jokes — although he never asked me for my number. Turning down Sunset Boulevard and passing by the Den and Skybar reminded me of all the conversations I had with fellow Bruins and other students who were taking a study break and enjoying their night out. Driving past Bacari and Toca Madera on 3rd brought back memories of dining indoors with my girlfriends and asking the table of cute guys next to us what they were ordering, a tactic that never seemed to fail when we needed an excuse to strike up a convo. Reminiscing ultimately led to a revelation. All data is taken from the source: http://latimes.com Article Link: https://www.latimes.com/lifestyle/sto… #apps #newsdonaldtrump #newstodaylocal #newstoday #newstodaydonaldtrump #newstodayupdate #

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