Once upon a time, in the country not so far away, but with impressive mountains and even more impressive salaries, there was a guy. An average looking guy, moderately interesting and with an average salary. He had however a magic box that gave him access to cheap flights and accommodation in cities known for beautiful churches and rich culture, but even more for cheap beer and nightclubs. And the most important of all: the magic box gave him access to Tinder. An endless possibility to browse hot and eager girls even before getting there — you would not like to rely on faith and wait until you actually get there, right? In this other country, on the less lucky side of Europe, words that mean nothing at home, here get a new power: “I work in a bank”, “last summer I went to Bali”, “Zermatt is really great place for a ski weekend”. This is literally what it takes. Seeing each other in real life is of course a bit disappointing. The illusion created by those carefully selected photos and quotes you both don’t really understand and certainly not apply in life had to shutter the at some points. There is no spark, but there is determination to give it a try. “If you don’t look like in the pictures, you buy me beer until you do” might be one of the few true sentences anyone ever wrote in their Tinder profile.
Does it sound like a story you would want to tell your children about how you and mummy met? Hell, is it at least a story you would like to tell your friends when they ask you how your hook up went?
Disclaimer: I am neither against Tinder nor against hookups. I don’t believe all relationships have to be serious and casual sex is bad in itself. But this is not really what this “remote matchmaking” is, is it?
In this strange, but very true story of Tinder romance, there are expectations from the day one, on both sides. Our rich (by comparison) boy wants to find a pretty girl that would not even look at him in his home country. The girl wants a man who would offer her the luxury her looks or brains wouldn’t get her at home. There is an agenda from the beginning. It is a shortcut they are both willing to take to get what they want.
I guess I am just a romantic. Not the one that believes that everyone will find the love of their life and from that moment their life will be all glitter and rainbows. I do believe however that we all have our shortcomings that sometimes make it difficult to find partners or even hookups. They make us awkward and self-conscious. But the struggle and building up self-esteem can turn a frog into a prince. Girl-browsing and buying the way to their pants can just turn a frog into an asshole