Where To Meet Someone The Old Fashioned Way

I have a friend that believes everyone meets on a dating app these days and no one meets organically. I’ve been on dating apps and I’ve decided that it just isn’t for me. Most of the time I find myself getting inappropriate messages, horrible one liners, that “relationship” where there’s just texting and no meeting, or getting eventually ghosted. I know that there are some gems amongst a bed of fake diamonds, but honestly, the probability of finding a high-quality person is slim in my experience. As a result, I am pretty much done with online dating and I would prefer to meet someone the old fashioned way.

If you’re anything like my friend, you will probably question whether people do this anymore. I can assure you that it does happen. I’m not sure where the perception came from that people don’t meet the old fashioned way anymore. Ultimately, I think people are so absorbed in their own lives that they don’t really bother to pay attention to their surroundings. The thing is that there are many signs and many opportunities to meet someone. Seriously! I challenge you to count the number of people you come into contact with every day and I promise you’ll realize that there are people everywhere.

Related: Why Dating Has Always Sucked

Regardless of what you may think, you can meet someone the old fashioned way. The thing is that you have to have confidence. I am going to be honest. It is really scary to be confident enough to start a conversation with someone. However, when it comes to online dating, you’re competing with a slew of other people who may be better or worse than you. These people may be more willing to do what you don’t want to do. This is also a reality in normal life, but the thing is is that most don’t have a menu of other people at their fingertips in the places where they aren’t expecting to meet someone. Basically, you’re not safe anywhere when it comes to dating. It could go really well or not so well.

Places to Meet Someone The Old Fashioned Way

Many of these places will have you thinking, “Oh! Of course!” However, when in these spaces, it’s important to ask yourself, “What’s the worse that can happen?” The answer is rejection, but we already can experience that if we do decide to finally meet up with that person from Tinder. So, here are a few places to meet someone the old fashioned way.

Grocery Store

Have you ever been to the grocery store and saw people shopping by themselves? It’s almost the perfect place to strike up a conversation. For example, you see someone standing by the avocados and they’re trying to pick the perfect one. Try to make your way over there and start a conversation. Opt for something light like, “I never know how to pick the perfect avocado. They go bad so fast!” This could very well turn into a memorable meeting experience.

At A Coffee Shop

I think this is one of my favorite places to meet someone the old fashioned way because you never know what kind of person you’re going to get at a coffee shop. You can find entrepreneurs, students, or maybe even doctors. All kinds of people go to coffee shops and here’s an easy way to start a conversation. So, at a coffee shop, there’s usually minimal space and as a result, you have to share a table. When the right time presents itself, take the opportunity to strike up a conversation with the cutie you’re sharing a table with.

At A Restaurant

I want to tell you a little story. My mom loves to talk to people and will start a conversation with anyone. She does this so naturally and it sometimes makes me so jealous that I’m not as extroverted as her. Ultimately, I think I just like to stay in my lane most of the time I’m in public. However, I think everyone should take up some advice from my mom. One time, we were in a restaurant and my mom decides to save a table while I ordered and got our food. While doing this, two really cute guys around my age sat down with their food at the table beside ours. When I made my way back, she was in deep conversation with them. She then proceeded to tell them that I went to university in New York and it turns out that one of the guys was from Brooklyn. We then started talking about New York, which was a really cool connection.

At A Hardware Store

Now, ladies, this is the easiest place to meet someone the old fashioned way. I mean come on! All you need to do is have a reason to go to the hardware store. Preferably for something that’s on a high shelf so that you can ask a nice tall hunk to get something for you. It doesn’t even have to be a high shelf! It can be somewhere that’s hard to reach. Or perhaps you’re doing a Pinterest project and you don’t really know what you need. This opens the door for conversation and is the perfect way to meet someone.

Parties

I think one of the popular ways to meet someone the old fashioned way is through mutual friends. Consider going to that friend of a friend’s party and you might just meet someone you can hit it off with. Maybe go to that Halloween party or that New Year’s Eve party. Is a friend’s job having a party and they can bring a friend? Consider going! I’m an extroverted introvert, meaning that I love being around people, but I like my alone time too. Therefore, I sometimes have to prepare myself to be social. Parties are some of the easiest places to start a conversation where starting a conversation isn’t as intimidating as the other options.

The Secret To Meeting Someone

So, what’s the secret to meeting someone the old fashioned way? It’s not necessarily to flirt, although if you can fit that in, by all means go for it as long as it feels natural. The goal is to start a conversation to see if this is a potential interest and connection. If you feel like it’s a natural fit, you’ll know when in the conversation bringing up phone numbers is appropriate. Then you can start hinting at making plans to go out on a date. Like online dating, it could work out or not and that’s totally fine.