Eligible Singles Swap Swiping for Real-Life Meetings

For many single people, online dating sites and mobile apps have been a convenient way to streamline their search for love while maintaining a busy personal and professional lifestyle. However, recent statistics show that many single people have become disillusioned with online results from questionable algorithms that often miss the mark when suggesting a match. As such, today’s trends have eligible singles choosing to look offline for love by swapping online swiping for real-life meeting places in the hopes of finding other single people and a true love match.

When it comes to the most common places young couples meet each other, it has always come down to three places: school, work, and friends. For older couples, the top places to meet usually include a restaurant or bar, church, gym, and through introductions from family members. While all of these options have proven successful over time, today’s society has singles mingling and marrying after meeting in person at a wide range of locations. Many of the most successful meeting places focus on common interests, which can serve to build and sustain a relationship for years to come.

In Indian River County (IRC), singles and new couples alike are seeking real-life places and events both to find a significant other as well as further a new relationship. Luckily for those searching for love, IRC offers a plethora of options for singles to meet and couples to have dates. One of the most popular options for finding a love connection is at karaoke night, where shy singles can sing to the object of their affection, and cute couples can choose “their song” on-site. Two popular places in IRC for karaoke are Grind & Grape on Tuesday nights, and the American Legion Post 39 on Wednesday nights. Both locations offer various food and musical selections to share with a current or soon-to-be loved one.

Of the many tried-and-true places for singles to meet other singles, many are hobby-based and offer the opportunity for singles to join a club or team. Examples in IRC include theater-related groups, running clubs, riding clubs, bowling teams, paddleball teams, and bridge clubs. In addition, some IRC residents have pointed out that pickleball has become a new lure among singles looking for love, which has pickleball aficionados proudly citing its trending role in new relationships and marriages.

Among the most traditional locations for singles to meet, bookstores and grocery stores stand out as places to nourish both mind and body. This is still true today, with IRC offering Books-a-Million, the Vero Beach Book Center, and libraries offering a range of weekly events. Also feeding a desire for love are farmer’s markets and The Fresh Market, with both offering tasty meeting options for new food and new love.

It’s interesting to point out that food often plays a substantial role in finding love, not just in IRC but abroad as well. In Spain, eligible singles have started gathering at a local supermarket between the hours of 7pm and 8pm. They put a pineapple upside-down in their shopping cart and proceed to the wine department, where, if you like someone, you hit them with your cart and you start talking. In a popular German supermarket, a similar campaign to find love suggests that single shoppers visit the store between 6pm and 7pm, and cruise the aisles with a watermelon in their cart, which indicates availability to other eligible singles.

Regardless of the type of produce involved, recent trends in finding love all have one thing in common—single people are tired of spending hours staring at smart phones and swiping in the hopes of finding “the one” perfect match for them. Because of the frequent inaccuracy and frustration of algorithm results, more people are moving away from online options, and back to meeting other singles in real-life situations that leave technology behind. In real life, people can get to know each other in person, and in many of these scenarios, a face-to-face meeting can become a friendship, which can become a forever love in the future.

Photo courtesy of Catholic Lane

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