Keep Calm And Carry On: Online Dating Adds A Little Romance To Your Busy Life
At the advent of online dating, people’s skepticism about the practice stemmed from the dubiousness of taking the nuanced gestures and subtle chemistry of a first encounter and trying to filter them through messages, a list of likes and dislikes, and digital “pokes” and “winks.” Now the practice has been inverted — many of us rely on the veiled distance and convenience the internet provides. Who wants to come up with a good line and look cute doing it when it’s so much easier to type a quippy opener from the comfort of your own home? More importantly, most of us cannot waste three vodka soda’s worth of time and money at a bar trying to meet somebody. With late nights at the office and a long commute, it’s hard to put on your dancing pants and drag yourself to the post-work Happy Hour, much less seem excited and cheerful about doing it.
So, it’s settled: internet dating is the way to go for a busy, 21st century gal. If they’d had Match.com in 1987 when Baby Boom was made, that’s what J.C. Wiatt would have done, instead of having to quit her job and move all the way to Vermont just to meet a hunky veterinarian. A quick lap around the JDate pool will let you know that there are plenty of D.V.M.s, PhD’s, and M.D.’s within your zip code.
Still, for the professional set, internet dating brings with it a whole new set of sticky circumstances. For example, coming across your co-workers’ profiles online is not unlike watching The Ring: you won’t be able to get those images out of your head, no matter how hard you try. Next time you run into Jason from Marketing, all you’ll be able to see is him, on a beach in Cabo, wearing a Speedo. And, even though you are a tasteful and discreet person who doesn’t put overly revealing pictures of herself on the internet, do you really want to think about your coworkers scrolling through your profile late at night? I didn’t think so.
Kentucky-born entrepreneur Lori Cheek seems to have found the happy medium. This past winter, she launched the website Cheekd.com (as in, “You’ve been Cheek’d!”). According to their website, “Cheek’d bridges the gap between online dating and real-world romance. Shop offline and avert another missed connection.” How many times have you seen an adorable, scruffy-haired man reading your favorite novel on the subway and wanted to talk to him? But you didn’t because you were too shy, or you were distracted thinking about your mental checklist for that day and couldn’t think of something to say, or you had to get off at the next stop and didn’t have time to say hello. That’s where Cheek comes in. You hand him a card that says something like, “I need a date to my sister’s wedding,” “I couldn’t find a napkin,” “Act natural, we can get awkward later,” or, simply, “Hi.”
Also printed on the card is a code. The object of your affection can log in at Cheekd.com and type in the code to get in touch with you. As Bump is the working woman’s new business card, Cheek’s cards are the working woman’s new dating site message, which was her new…um…talking, I guess? It seems we’ve come full circle, but I like it. Cheek’d capitalizes on a busy, professional’s need for speed (How quickly can you whip out your Cheek’d deck and drop a card next to man’s cocktail napkin? And…Go!), yet eradicates the stigma and impersonal vibe of internet dating.
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