Blind Dating? There's An App

Blind dating? Is it coming back into vogue? Why bring back that horror? Cycling back to the days of yore (before smartphones and Tick Tock) way back to the time when telephones were wired into walls and were usually located in the kitchen (we could call it the 1970s, or you could even go later on the timeline). Many of you might have to remember back to when you had that well-meaning friend who wanted to set your love life on the right track.  Perhaps these friends had your happiness in mind, or perhaps they had read too much of Jane Austen's work.

In those times, the blind date could be both an exciting and terrifying experience. Remember the movie, “Bind Date?” This vintage flick came out in 1987 and starred Bruce Willis as a guy who was a workaholic named Walter. Kim Basinger stars as Nadia who sets new standards in the bad blind date category. Poor Walter agrees to take out his sister-in-law’s cousin. His brother warns him profusely not to let her drink, but guess what? Yes, one glass of champagne and she’s chewing off his lips. In one night, Nadia causes Walter to lose his job, gets him beaten up, chased, shot at, and finally arrested. Of course, this is all larger-than-life movie fodder, and the average blind date was never quite that adventurous. It might be worth pulling this one out on vintage movie night. Personally, I only ventured out on one blind date in my entire life, and no big issues, although I was almost certain that the guy was straight out of prison. 

I did have a friend that agreed to go on a date and ended up meeting a quite frugal guy at a diner. Of course, he had “forgotten” his wallet, but she was hungry. She told the guy she would even buy the food, but he declined and only ordered water meanwhile watching her eat a stack of pancakes the whole time.  I think that would qualify as a certainly weird and uncomfortable experience.

I had another friend who went to the movies and afterward they sat at the food court where he asked her what she really thought of him. Then, without invitation, he reciprocated and delved into his thoughts of her whereby he mentioned that she could be attractive if she lost 5–10 pounds. Mr. Confessional then left for a bit and came back with a creepy puppet as a parting gift. Nothing like a bizarre puppet gift!

With tales like these, it’s no wonder social media and Google were invented. Background information is important. Interestingly enough, now Tender has just introduced a blind dating app where people can talk before seeing each other’s photos. The matching procedure is based upon how participants answer such questions as, “It’s okay to wear a shirt ___ times before washing it.” “I put ketchup on _____.” The emphasis on the Tinder angle is that a couple will get along because of shared interests or similar personalities.

Tinder seemed encouraged to launch this app because 41% of Gen. Z users said they would like to go on a blind date, but didn’t know how to go about it. Likewise, 21% of Gen. Z Brits said they’d like blind dating to become popular once more.

The blind date feature is already available in the U.S. and will soon spread to other countries. Let the adventures begin (but with caution). Finally, one more tale to add to previous ones, I knew a guy who showed up at a movie for a blind date. He was wearing a jacket that had been sprayed by his tomcat. “What’s that smell?” the lucky girl asked.