This story happened when I was 22, the summer immediately following my college graduation (4 years ago). I attended a pretty good school in Boston and, like many people in my stage of life, I was trying to figure out what to do next. I had a liberal arts degree that, while interesting, wasn’t the most practical in terms of finding a job. So, in the mean time, I had taken a temporary position in the public school system while I tried to figure my life out. I had an income, a nice apartment, and was enjoying bachelorhood. I had been in a semi-serious relationship over the last few months before graduating, but that had ended as school did so I was enjoying bachelorhood.
I had been using the usual gambit of dating apps to try and meet some new people (Tinder/Bumble, you know the deal). Anyone who has been in these situations knows that those apps can bring some amount of success, the occasional ONS or something along those lines. But it is far from a guarantee, as most conversations just die out over time.