The Online Offensive
Kristen Martin, a recently married local, is not shy, but even for her the in-person dating approach bombed. “There weren’t a lot of available single men who would approach [me] in real life,” she says. She met all of her dates, including her husband, online. Martin finds people give off a vibe of “not wanting to be bothered.” If this is you, just know that you cannot avoid an awkward situation, no matter what the dating tactic. One online date that Martin met for coffee in the real world, interrupted their date to record their conversation into his journal. (Well, he recently completed a rather long and lonely work rotation on a submarine.)
Flirting, Camouflaged
Victor Fe, who spent seven years in Costa Rica before returning to Vancouver, feels that Vancouverites are averse to unscheduled flirting or conversations. During a stroll with his family one afternoon, Fe paused to tell a woman that she had a beautiful dog. She ignored him completely. His cousin was perplexed. “That’s Vancouver women for you,” Fe laughed. Fe had little trouble meeting women in Costa Rica. “People don’t date online in Costa Rica; you don’t have to,” he says. He would love to see Vancouverites warm up a bit and give spontaneity a chance!
Flaky Recruits
Single lady Aleana Banks has plenty to say about the dating scene. “Ugh. Impossible. I don’t really know how you do it if you don’t go to bars and clubs,” she says. Banks thinks too much texting compounds dating woes: although this issue is not specific to Vancouver. As comedian Aziz Ansari put it on Conan, “[It’s like] you’re a secretary for this really shoddy organization scheduling the dumbest [stuff] with the flakiest people ever.” Banks recounts making plans once via text. When the time of their meeting rolled around, her date was suddenly confused as to whether they had plans at all. “Nobody talks on the phone anymore,” she complains.
