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THE NARRATIVE ARC
My Unfortunate Encounters With ‘Foodie Calls’
Authenticity and basic manners can go a long way
I walked into the kitchen, and showed my dad the features on Tinder. He casually looked at a woman’s profile, showing a bio and a pic of her hiking with a small dog peeking out of her backpack. Dad is happily married to my mother. But he was understandably curious about all the craze. I was new to Tinder myself, and had no idea I’d eventually meet my spouse on it.
“So swiping right means yes. Swiping left means no?” He asked, inquisitively.
“Yes, that’s pretty much it.” I said, amused at his fascination. I let him try a few swipes, and watched as he became discerning all of a sudden.
He said, “Wow. We would have loved this when we were at the Naval Academy (which was all men at the time). Also, Sean, you really need better pictures,” he said, handing me my phone back. He wasn’t wrong. But it was funny how, even at his level of naivete, he knew my profile was a mess.
I’d tumbled into the single world in 2013, just after Tinder became mainstream. I’d long heard of dating apps with extreme and mixed reviews in all directions. But there was no denying that more and more couples cited them as their progenitor.
