Over this last weekend, two of my roommates decided to download Tinder, set up profiles and swipe for each other (with all the best intentions of course). Within a few hours, they both had several matches and a few conversations going. It was fascinating to see how the matches they had selected for each other seemed like they could have worked with either of them.  My roommate Amanda* had a few conversations that were going pretty well and a few that were just straight up creepy.
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Late Saturday night, Amanda was having a conversation with one of her matches, Paul*. It was going pretty well, Amanda was asking me what to say throughout the conversation, and after a little she freaked out and threw the phone at me. Upon picking it up, I realized that she was freaking out because he had asked her to meet in person. There hadn’t been any red flags and he seemed to have good intentions, so I asked her why not? It seemed like this could be fun, and that some good could come out of it (she would go on a date and I would get some entertainment). I helped her pick a place, a time, and I helped her plan an escape route in case things went south. I also planned to come with her, a little creepy I admit, but I was intrigued.
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Fast forward to the next morning: Amanda and Paul agreed to meet at 2:30pm downtown at a coffee shop. I decide I will drive her there, wait in the car for 5 minutes then follow her inside and pick a spot where I could sit and creep without being obvious. Unfortunately, upon getting into the building, the ONLY open table where I could see them was right next to them. So, there I was, at the table right next to them, looking stupid with two backpacks (both mine and Amanda’s, we were going to stay and do homework once the date was done), and I had to walk right past Amanda and do my best to be inconspicuous. I was right next to them, had one headphone in, typing away at my computer, while in all reality most of my attention was actually on their conversation.
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Now the hardest part of this whole thing for me was not reacting to their conversation. Here I was, like a third person at the table listening in, and yet I couldn’t show any emotions on my face or respond to anything either of them said. There were a few times when something would come up that I would want to respond to or interject and I found the best way to do this was to text her my thoughts rather than respond aloud on accident. They stayed at the coffee shop talking for about an hour, and at that point, Amanda decided she should probably go and get some more homework done. I was relieved, and I couldn’t wait to make her tell me what she thought of everything.
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The people sitting around us probably thought we were awful, not to mention a little strange. But the things to remember would be that a) she was going on this date whether or not I came, b) I would want to hear all about it either way and c) he was unaware of the fact that I knew her (at least we think he was, I did a pretty good job of keeping my cover). I wasn’t there so much to watch or make fun of him, but just to see my roommate on a date. I think the date went really well, he was nice, and I personally hope they go on another date. I guess we will see if another date is in the mix anytime soon!
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Now, I don’t actually recommend doing this. Had anything gone badly, we likely would have offended Paul, and that was never our intention. Take it from me, being with your roommate on a date when the guy doesn’t know you’re there isn’t exactly easy, and it can be kind of stressful!. Instead just let your roommate go on their own dates and tell you about them after.
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*Names have been changed
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