Online Dating Diaries

Name: Kristina Kirkaldy   Age: 21     Dating App: Tinder

I was never one for online dating, let alone using Tinder, an app that I’ve heard nothing but bad things about. But, I decided to jump on board and with a swipe of my finger the app was downloaded, and there I was, for the world to see. I spent my day’s swiping left then right, then left again, then right…of course receiving messages that are not appropriate for the web.

As I was just about to delete the app, I received a new message, but this time it was something different, it was something that caught my attention, and not in a bad way.

“If I play you a John Mayer song, will you agree to let me take you on a date?” I love John Mayer so I was instantly hooked.

Thus, begun our week long conversation, before he finally asked me out for dinner. I accepted, and before I knew it, I, the one who doesn’t like online dating, was going on a Tinder date.

He picked me up in his badass jeep and took me out to Jack Astor’s, my favourite restaurant. The conversation flowed and I was actually having a good time. We even planned to go see a movie the following week.

But, this is where things took a weird turn…

We arrived at the movies earlier than expected, so I asked him if he wanted to grab a coffee at a nearby Tim Hortons. He didn’t seem interested… he responded, “Why don’t we just hangout in the back of my jeep?” Now things got really awkward. I mean, don’t get me wrong the jeep was nice…but he parked in the back of the parking lot…I knew instantly what he wanted.

I politely declined his offer, but he kept insisting. I finally got so fed up that I raised my voice and yelled, “I am not ‘hanging out’ in the back of your jeep!”

He then bluntly told me that he wanted to have sex with me. Again, this was only the second date so I told him to take me home.

I will never be tinder-ing again.

Story & Photo By: Christina Balram

Name: Danielle Hall   Age: 33     Dating Site: Plenty of Fish & EVow

I have been using online dating on and off for about 10-15 years. When I got tired of the endless games and the meaningless hook-up attempts, I took a break from dating in general. I figured there was no sense wasting my time on men who would say they wanted something serious but really just wanted to ‘get into my pants.’

When I decided to give it another try I looked for a website that had a more serious tone, which is when I tried EVow. It is a site that caters to men and women who were truly looking for something with substance. I was on that site for about two months [when] I met one man that just so happens to now be my husband. We have been together for three years! We just got married this past June and are expecting our first child in the New Year.

When I met him my whole world changed because I knew that he was the man for me.

Story By: Samantha Knight 

Photo Courtesy of: Danielle Hall 

Name: Nicole Knight   Age: 18     Dating Site: Plenty of Fish

One day I was hanging out with two of my friends and telling them about how I wanted to meet a new guy. I left to attend an appointment and I messaged them when I got back, but they weren’t responding. When they finally came over an hour later, I started getting random texts and phone calls – sexual ones – from strange men.

My friends started laughing hysterically and wouldn’t tell me why. At first I thought the messages were from one of my guy friends joking with me, until one of the strangers sent me the link to a profile on Plenty of Fish.

The link opened a profile that had my real name, my phone number and my profile pictures from Facebook. My friends burst into laughter and admitted that they made the profile for me as a joke. I was NOT impressed. I had to block all of the strangers’ numbers because they continued to text me, which made me very uncomfortable, to say the least. Let’s just say, I don’t think my friends will ever make me a profile without my consent again.

Story & Photo By: Samantha Knight 

Name: Brittany Best   Age: 21    Dating Site: Plenty of Fish

I met up with this guy around April and we went on a first date and it was pretty good. We went to Jack Astor’s and talked for like 4 hours.

He asked me on a second date and I said yes. He picked me up and I asked him where we were going and he said it was a surprise. We pulled into the parking lot of grocery store and I asked him what we were doing and he told me to trust him and we went inside. We walked up to the meat counter and he called over the lady working there and he introduced me and said that she was his mom!Of course I was polite, but I was majorly freaked out.

We left after that and he said he needed to grab something from his house. I was standing in the door way and at first I really thought he was just going to grab something and then he took off his shoes and coat and sat down on the couch, put his feet up and started watching TV! I was like ‘what are we doing?’ He said he wanted to sit for a few minutes because he was charging his phone.

So I sat down with him and maybe after 10 minutes he asked if I was hungry. I said ‘Yeah, I wouldn’t mind something to eat,’ and he replied ‘okay, well in the freezer there are some spinach triangles; you already know how to work an oven I assume. Just toss them in for 20 minutes or so and there are plates in the cupboards.’I was floored and uncomfortable at that point. I said to him ‘this is a second date and you expect me to make you food in your own house? I don’t think so.’

He pretty much looked at me like I punched him in the face. He said ‘I drove to pick you up and I introduced you to my mother. On our first date I even paid for everything and now you think I’m going to cook for you? You have to put a little effort in too.’ I told him flat out that he was nuts and I was leaving.

He drove me home and I told him I wasn’t interested in seeing him again but he called me two days later anyways!

He said ‘when were you planning to call me because you didn’t call yesterday.’ I got very aggressive and told him ‘you must be insane to think I ever want to see you again after that last date. Don’t contact me again.’ I blocked his number but he tried to hunt me down on Facebook using his friend’s profile.

He still tries to contact me every now and again.

Story & Photo By: Samantha Knight 

Name: Kristine Da Silva   Age: 40    Dating Site: Plenty of Fish

I created a profile on Plenty of Fish as a stress-relieving study distraction during law school final exams. I wasn’t looking for anything long-term since I had ended a four-year relationship early on that year. I was 34 years old at that time and a mother to two teenage sons.

Almost four months into the online dating realm, I remember receiving a message from a 38-year-old Portuguese man who was intrigued that I liked roller coasters, cheesecake and ethnic food.

Fernando & I planned a date at Casey’s Bar & Grill and sat across from one another for five hours. We had to eventually be coaxed by our waitress to leave as the staff needed to close the restaurant. We kissed goodnight. Fernando went home to Mississauga and I went east towards Scarborough.

We took trips across the border to The Cheesecake Factory, roller coasters at Canada’s Wonderland and meeting each other’s families. I remember one night we were talking about our feelings toward one another and we both used the word love!

That’s how it all began.

A year later, I asked Fernando to marry me and presented him with a gold man-gagement ring. He said YES!

It’s been four years since my sons walked me down the aisle. We still love roller coasters and we’ve become foodies.

Story By: Samantha Knight 

Photo Courtesy of: Kristine Da Silva 

Name: Brianna Lett   Age: 2o   Dating App: Tinder

My experience with online dating has both been good and bad. As everyone knows with Tinder, there are some very creepy and inappropriate guys, but there are also some very nice, genuine guys.

One guy I met on Tinder asked me to go to lunch with him. So I thought ‘why not I’m in a new city (Vancouver) trying to meet people.’ So we met up downtown and went to lunch at a restaurant on the water. It was a really nice time and we got along great!

After that we walked down by the water and he got a call from his friend asking if he wanted to go to a BC lions game later that day and he then turned to me to ask if I wanted to go as well. Again, I said to myself ‘why not?’ So I went!

We watched the football game and had a lot of fun. I also met some of his friends. It was definitely an unexpected, crazy first date!

We kept talking after that and had plans to hangout a couple more times but he was always busy or I was so nothing worked. Things sort of just ended because then he stopped texting me altogether. Oh well, better luck next time!

Story & Photo By: Samantha Knight 

Name: Dylan Luca   Age: 21   Dating App: Tinder

Iuse tinder as a way to meet people. To be honest, I created my account because I was bored and needed something to do. I had so much free time being newly single, so I thought I would check it out and see what it’s all about.

I’ve had matches with maybe five or six girls on Tinder so far, but one definitely wasn’t what I was looking for.

I had a match with a girl who was 18, which was a big mistake on my part. At the start I had told her I wasn’t looking for a relationship and made it clear I just wanted someone to hang out with. She wanted to meet up for coffee and when I saw her in person, she didn’t really look like her pictures, which was a problem, but I just went with it. We got our coffee then hopped in my car and started driving around.

The conversations we had weren’t bad; I guess you could say we were connecting on some level. Then we went for dinner and I took her home. After our date, we were texting a lot and then I stopped texting her for like a day and then she sends me this weird message that said, “is this something I have to get used to?” (She was referring to me not texting back very quick). That should have put up a red flag for me right then and there, but we met up again.

I took her to dinner and we hung out in a parking lot and she was talking a lot about the future. Then she asked me to delete my tinder. I asked why, and she said “what’s the point to keep it if you’ve already met me?” I asked her if she was trying to control my life and she went off saying, “I’m not like that, that’s not who I am! I don’t know what girls you’ve been with, but that’s not what I’m like.” After that incident, I started to slowly talk to her less and then it got to a point where I was only sending her one message a day.

She was definitely a stage-five clinger.

Story & Photo By: Samantha Knight 

Name: Shahmyna Kasim   Age: 21   Dating App: Tinder

Ifound out that my boyfriend of a year and a half had a Tinder account at the beginning of our relationship.

One of my friends found him and they created a “match” and started talking. She questioned him as to why he had an account. He said he was going to be honest with me and he told me everything right away. I requested him to delete the app and he did so right in front of me.

Two weeks ago we got into a big argument that escalated over something really small. My friend asked if everything was okay with us. I confided in her and told her what was going on. She then showed me that his Tinder profile was active since our fight.

From that point on I stopped trusting him and his Tinder usage.

Story & Photo By: Christina Balram

Name: Amy Lafromboise   Age: 21   Dating Site: Lesbiansingles.ca

Kaley and I went to the same high school, but we never interacted then. Two years after I graduated, I signed up on lesbiansingles.ca. I don’t know what led me to it, but I put my profile up on the website. It all happened so fast! She sent me a wink, then a friend request on Facebook explaining who she was, then she asked me if I wanted to meet up.

We met a few days later at a Starbucks for a coffee. I was going on a weeklong trip the next day and throughout the trip all I could talk about was her and all I could think about was her. We went out for a second date once I got home and ever since then we were inseparable. We were always calling, always texting and always seeing each other. We exchanged promise rings five months later, at Christmas time, at the Starbucks where we had met for our first date. Fast forward a couple years, and now we have moved in together and gotten engaged. It will be two and a half years this January. Our wedding date is set for October 10, 2015.

She keeps telling me that I deserve better…I don’t want better…I want her.

Story & Photo By: Samantha Knight