If you’re a New Yorker, you know there’s only so much time in the day. Time is money, as they say, so if you’ve got an extra 20 minutes, you might as well really make the best of it. For example, go on a date while you wait for your train to arrive. I mean, what better way to spend your precious time? Thomas Knox has taken the whole getting to know you thing to a new level with his table, two chairs, and a vase of flowers that he sets up on subway platforms all over New York City. With a sign that reads, “Date while you wait,” covered in hearts, of course, Knox is always ready to have a date that involves some talking or even a game of Connect Four, all while donning a bow tie made of Scrabble tiles. I know, I know, I don’t know why the cutie is still single either.
As Knox explained to Time Out, he wanted to do something fun that would make people happy in a world where there’s just too much negativity. “I wanted to make people smile and enjoy the commute. I feel each date has been successful in its own unique way. The general reaction has been positive and hopeful.”
Knox isn’t the first guy to come up with a dating hack. Remember Dan Perino who posted “Looking for a Girlfriend” flyers all over New York City last year? Well, apparently that paid off, because as Perino told Vice last year, he’d been on 86 dates in nine weeks.
But if you’re not sure you want to lug a table and chairs down to a subway platform in this sweltering heat or post your phone number on flyers all over the five boroughs, then maybe these hacks of how to get a date will be a better fit for you.
1. Comment On A Book Someone Is Reading
Of course this doesn’t mean bombard someone with 30 questions, as they’re clearly trying to read, but asking how the book is or mentioning that you just read it, will get a conversation started.
2. Ask Someone To Take Your Photo
Because no self-respecting person should own a selfie stick, let alone carry one around, this gives you yet another reason to talk to a good looking stranger. You don’t have to be a tourist in a foreign city to want to have your photo taken… in front of the pizza shop you go to everyday for lunch.
3. Wear The Color Red
Research has found that wearing red immediately ups someone’s attraction level to others. When people see someone in red they’re subconsciously more attracted to them and want to get to know them. Research has also shown that wearing red in your online dating profile will also up your chances at getting responses.
4. Roll Solo
When people are alone, they come off as way more approachable. If you’re looking to meet someone then leave your friends at home. It's when you break away from your usual pack that you'll find that not only are people more willing to talk to you, but you're more willing to talk, too.
5. Agree To Do The Speed Dating Thing
Why? Because it's an easy way to meet lots of people in a short amount of time and you're not stuck with one person for two hours ― especially is five minutes into those two hours you realize the person across the table from you is pretty much Hannibal Lecter.
Image: Diego Torres Silvestre/Flickr; Spoiled_NYC/Instagram; Giphy(5)
