As anyone at a small liberal arts college may understand, running into the same faces daily can be both a blessing and a curse. This small college familiarity feels especially cursed when those same faces pop up on your Tinder, Hinge, or Bumble. In fact, as an active user of dating apps on this campus, the thing I find myself desperately avoiding at all times is making eye contact with anyone.
On this college campus, where we see the same 200 faces every day, dating apps are less about love and more about playing a game of “did I match with them on Tinder?” while trying to maintain some semblance of dignity.
Matching with someone on one of the many dating apps available may feel like a casual expression of interest — and you never have to text them if you don’t want to — but it becomes significantly less casual when it turns out they’re in your chemistry class. You’ve never paid more attention in a class because if you look around, you might have to acknowledge each other, and god forbid that happens!
Maybe it’s the curse of a Lutheran dry campus, but Oles seem to have a tendency to unleash their flirt over text, and then let their eyes glaze over when they see you in public. I myself have found that I’ve collected a roster of people I really hope I don’t run into while I huff and puff my way up the New Hall stairs.
Yes, we can Snapchat all we want, but there will never be a public acknowledgment of one another. Even better is when you receive a text telling you, “you looked good today.” Did you, in fact, look at me? Because I swear your head swiveled the other direction when I walked past.
As this is a small campus, that also means that I’ve had to determinedly swipe left on the same people time and time again. This also means when these people request to follow me on Instagram, or somehow add me on Snapchat by search, I know exactly where they’ve found me. Having an active dating profile on this campus is like waving a neon sign that says, “hey! I’m single!” And baby, you made that sign yourself.
Townies and Carls are no escape from this incestuous hill. The entire townie population on Tinder seems to be holding a fish, and we can all agree that Carleton students are even worse at dating than Oles. So, for those of you that are like me and spend your evenings mindlessly swiping instead of studying for your finals, good luck. And remember, never . . . make . . . eye contact . . .
Xoxo, Carrie Bradshaw, but with less commitment to class and more commitment to avoiding eye contact.
