Chances are pretty good that your bucket list includes a passionate make-out session at an airport. If not, it might now, after having read that sentence. Unless you’re married, in which case you will have no use for meetattheairport.com, a new website whose name is very indicative of its purpose. Unless, of course, you sign up as somebody who is just looking for a friend. Which, from my perusal of the website, seems like a rarity.
You can register on the site, plugging in your personal information and interests, what you’re looking for (I selected, “I’m open to possibilities”), what your body type is, etc. (Although careful, recent studies have shown that no women respond to men under 5’7 on dating sites.) You can post pictures of yourself, too, natch. It’s very much like OkCupid, except it’s hyper-localized to airports. Then, when you have a flight booked, you can send out feelers for somebody who will be in the same airport as you at around the same time, so you can meet up for a drink or a coffee instead of sitting at the airport bar, drinking alone and hoping the beautiful woman in her yoga travel pants will get drunk enough on pinot noir to strike up a conversation with you and maybe hold your hand.
At first blush, this idea may seem whack. And you may be initially skeptical when you see the site’s slightly janky design. Also, it is admittedly a vaguely creepy concept (moreso on the female end, because let’s be real: dudes have a much higher penchant for executing creepy ideas, like tailing somebody when they leave an airport). But for people who often travel alone, airports can be sad and boring places. You’re constantly seeing people in love, on their way to a honeymoon, or people arriving from a long trip reunited with their families– this is, after all the entire premise for Love Actually. It can make one crave companionship. (One time, I was at a TGI Fridays at Pittsburgh International and I saw two soldiers meeting their families for the first time in God only knows how long. It was beautiful. I may or may not have wept openly.) And travel takes time. You spend hours upon hours trapped inside the glass airport box with nothing to do, or nobody to do.
So why not spend that time trying to find romance, with the help of a free dating service? It’s not like it’s going to be any more awkward than meeting somebody for a first date in any other circumstance. Worst case scenario is things go badly, and then you get to part ways and, in some instances, fly thousands of miles away from each other, each of you to never been seen or heard from again. Best case scenario, you can start a Clooney-esque Up In The Air romance.
Actually, the best case scenario is that you both hop the same flight and get it going in the restroom. And then you come out of this thing as a goddamn legend, a member of The Mile High Club.
Best of luck. And may your love life take flight.*
*I hate myself.