Step aside Tinder, I met someone in an UberPool

“HOW did you meet?” It’s often the first question couples are asked. Maybe after hundreds of Tinder swipes, or during a big night out. But in an UberPool? Chanel Zagon discovers it’s possible.

“HOW did you meet?” Is the number one question you are often asked about your partner.

Perhaps he or she was your 869th swipe on Tinder.

Maybe it was on a wild night out while necking drinks and throwing up on the sidewalk.

Or in a more civilised fashion — you bumped into them by the photocopier at work.

I think I’m speaking for most singles when I say meeting someone nowadays is hard.

Gone are the days of meeting someone at your local pub.

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To be frank, as a woman you’d be lucky to make it out of there without being hit on by a drunken creep more than twice your age.

It also doesn’t help when Baby Boomers decide to chip in with their “back in my day” tales of how they all met their partners at community dances.

Hello … where are our community dances? I’m pretty sure they stopped running weekly community-based functions for anyone under 40 about 50 years ago.

Let’s face it — times have changed and us singles are in need of more options.

Here are some of the most unusual, yet surprisingly effective, ways to meet your modern-day partner.

IN AN UBERPOOL

Yes, I met someone in an UberPool and it was the first UberPool I had ever taken.

Not long ago I was at a family lunch in the inner eastern suburbs of Melbourne when a hailstorm hit.

I had a princess moment and told my family there was no way on earth I was going to rough it by then taking the tram to work.

So I pulled out my phone to suss out Uber fares. Ugh, a 1.4 x surge — no.

Then I saw it — UberPool for less than half the price.

UberPool is essentially a ‘car pool’ service where the driver picks up other passengers en route to your destination.

“Don’t do that — they might pick up drunks or drug addicts,” my dad said.

“Yeah, what if they pick up someone who smells?” My aunty added.

I know what you’re all thinking — first world problems. (And nice caring family you have there.)

“Or what if it’s a really attractive guy?” I said.

*Everyone erupted into laughter*

“In your dreams,” they replied.

Move aside Tinder — UberPool is here.

The concept might seem a bit strange, but it beats the drunken hook-ups, the awkward first-dates or swiping through hundreds of profiles.

You hop in and someone else jumps in with you.

You make small talk, suss them out, and ask all of your need-to-know questions in a non-creepy way.

And you do this all while heading to your destination.

If you hit it off — great, you get their number. If not — it’s no big deal.

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No ‘ghosting’, un-matching, blocking or awkward conversations required. Doors closed, case closed.

And what if another option jumps in to take their place? Another potential win.

And, it could be the cheapest first date you ever go on.

UberPool is like a dating service on-wheels. Picture: iStock

Meeting face-to-face may seem a bit ‘old school’, but at least this way you get to set your sights on the person in person.

Yes, it’s possible you might come across some creeps or unusual characters, but you could get that anywhere.

And yes, the ride may be short and (maybe) sweet, but generally you know within the first 20 minutes of meeting someone whether you like them or not anyway.

So what happened in my case? The other passenger jumped in and I was in luck.

We chatted, talked, laughed and hit it off straight away.

“I know this isn’t a bar, but can I get your number?” He said, before leaving.

And yes, we have met up since.

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According to a Relationships Australia survey, the most common way to meet a romantic partner is through family or friends.

Results showed online was the second highest with 4.5 million Australians using online dating sites each year.

More than 60 per cent of women and 57 per cent of men reported that they had used online dating sites or applications to meet new partners.

Other traditional channels such as work, holidays, clubs and bars followed.

The most common way to meet someone is through family or friends. Picture: iStock.

LINKEDIN

The often weird “connection” requests you receive on LinkedIn from randoms may not be so strange after all.

LinkedIn is a business and employment service platform, but it has proven to be MUCH more than that.

While most people tend to squint at strange connection requests and mutter under their breath “Johnny who?” It may be worth checking out the random before deleting them (and no, I don’t mean their employment history).

Linda Bateman said a random marketing manager added her on LinkedIn and she was about to delete the request, until the rather slick looking professional messaged her.

They chatted, he suggested a coffee catch-up and she agreed.

“It may seem a little bit strange, but people can meet people in all sorts of ways these days,” she said.

Oh yeah — and they ended up dating for two years.

Turns out LinkedIn can work wonders — and not just for careers.

Sometimes meeting someone in a strange way is the best way. Picture: iStock

ONLINE MARKETPLACE

If meeting someone face-to-face is more your thing, why not try online marketplaces.

Here’s how it could work:

You’ve listed an item for sale, a buyer messages you, you do a quick stalk of their account profile.

If you think there is potential, you tell them to come around and “check it out” or come over pick it up — make it clear it is strictly pick-up only (just blame the postage costs).

Invite them inside and take it from there.

Single mother Marina Letoufus said she listed some old school books on Gumtree and it just so happened a single father came and bought them.

“It was a lovely way to stumble across someone and it was nice while it lasted,” she said.

They hit it off — it seemed at the time he got quite the ‘package deal’.

TRAVEL FORUM

People love talking about their holidays, upcoming trips and past journeys.

Travel is a great talking point — as it’s the one thing you already have in common.

Why not hop onto a travel forum, dig through some reviews and check out a few traveller profiles.

Dave Redgio said his partner found him on TripAdvisor.

She messaged him for advice on her upcoming trip to the USA, after discovering he had commented on a Grand Canyon tour.

“Holidays can be a great way to start a conversation,” Mr Redgio said.

Looks like you don’t have to literally be on holiday to meet someone.

Think outside the box. Picture: iStock

ON INSTAGRAM

Everyone has a hobby — something they like to do and brag about — or in this case post a photo about.

Do a hashtag search for activities you like to do followed by a suburb — e.g. #running #Melbourne.

You will be amazed at what and who you will find — the best thing is this way you are likely to stumble across a person who has a similar hobby and lives within reach.

Paige Tabone told the Leader an attractive-looking personal trainer liked one of her running photos she had posted on Instagram and rather than letting it slide, she used fitness as an excuse to hit him up with some workout tips.

His response wasn’t exactly PG — but they must have been OK as the pair have been dating for the past 18 months.

Sure, some of these may seem unlikely. But the point is, you can meet people anywhere and everywhere.

It doesn’t have to be at the pub or next to the photocopier at work.

Why not branch out and search outside what is considered ‘normal’.

If going to bars every weekend isn’t working out, it may be just the time to change things up and try something a bit different.

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