These events really happened.

Once upon a time, at the beginning of the summer, I needed new Odyssey material. So I downloaded Tinder. I had no intention of meeting up with or going out with anyone that I met, but I thought it would make a fun article. First I had to set up my profile. I chose a cute profile picture and a few pictures of myself traveling and in Guatemala. I made sure to include that I love Jesus in my bio to make sure nobody had the wrong expectations. Then came the interesting part, swiping. I quickly realized that there are two very different kinds of guys on Tinder in Missouri. First, the guys who go to Mizzou. The preppy frat boys who had pictures at parties with their bros. The other kind of guys were the ones who worked on their trucks, only shaved every four months and loved country music.

As I continued swiping I matched with a few people. I told myself that I would only talk to them if they messaged me first. Soon enough, the messages started coming in. I actually met some really interesting and unique people. One guy worked with the middle schoolers at his church. One guy said he was going to run for president when he was older. That was awkward because I’m running for president. He said if I played my cards right I could be the first lady. That was a no from me. Despite this, they weren’t all bad. These guys weren’t in it just to hook up, and that was cool. However, I soon began to see a trend. I’d start talking to someone and then about three days later they would ask to hang out. This was problematic because I wasn’t interested in meeting up with anyone. So I’d tell them and then we’d eventually stop talking. After this had gone on for a while I started to feel like I was leading them on and decided to delete Tinder. I told the few guys that I actually liked that I was leaving, and then I deleted my account. However, the story does not stop there.

One of the first guys I met on Tinder was *Travis. Travis was a really interesting guy. He had studied abroad, was fluent in Arabic and was about to start his Masters at WashU. He was really intelligent, loved to read and loved history. As we talked more he said that although he had been raised Catholic, he had recently become a Christian and started attending a local non-denominational church in the area. I had offered that my church was doctrinally sound and that he could come try mine if he ever wanted to. So when I told him I was deleting Tinder, Travis gave me his number and asked me to give him the information about my church.

Then he actually visited my church. It was awkward. We sat together in service and swapped small talk about our days. Then he met my family because they were there too. That was awkward. My dad asked him about what he did for his work. I think he felt like he was being grilled, but really my dad is just a nice guy. Then Travis asked me if we could get coffee after church. I said sure, after all he had come to my church. We went to Starbucks and talked for about two hours. As I got to know him better I was really impressed by how smart he was, but I started to feel like he was just a little too interested for having just met me. He was awkward, but I chalked it up to nerves.

So we talked a little more. And he wanted to hang out the next week. Summer classes had started and I was busy, so it didn’t happen. I started getting annoyed that he was texting me so much. Travis had an expectation of how things were going to go and almost assumed that I was as interested in him as he was in me. I couldn’t do it anymore. So, when he invited me to a service at the church he was attending I decided to go and then break things off.

I really didn’t want to go to this church service, but I did. The doctrine was sketchy and not very biblical at all. I was uncomfortable and disappointed in his church, but he was really into it. After the service was over I communicated in a kind but clear manner that I didn’t think the doctrine was biblical and that I did not agree with their teachings. He listened and then asked me if we could get dinner sometime in the next week. He clearly was not getting it. I told him that I didn’t think we could get dinner and that I was busy and not in the right place for a relationship. He seemed a little unhappy about that. Then I left. It was very awkward.

And he unfriended me on Facebook.

That is the story of my week on Tinder.

The end.

*Name has been changed.