There were a lot of laughs Monday when news broke that a model had lured a bunch of men to Union Square Park the day before with the promise of a Tinder date — only to make them compete for the honor.
She “swiped” left and right on the men in person, based on criteria like whether they voted for President Trump or had a beer belly, then made them race each other and pitch themselves to win a date with her.
But I wasn’t laughing — because I was one of the guys she lured there.
I went to Union Square that day assuming I had a date with a woman named Natasha Aponte. We matched on the app about three months ago. She said I was cute and seemed interesting, but after a few messages, she said she was tied up with work and asked if we could reconnect in a few weeks. I thought that was her elaborate way to “ghost” me and that she’d just disappear.
I’d long ago deleted her messages when she texted me last Thursday asking if I was available on Sunday evening — her friend was DJing a show and we could get a drink after to “see what happens.” As a person who likes to see what happens, I wasn’t going to say no to that.
Once I arrived at the park, there were easily more than 100 other guys scattered throughout the area, most of them gathered at the front of the stage. The crowd seemed to be about 95 percent male, which confused me since concerts are typically more diverse.
Natasha text-messaged me to say she would be about 15 minutes late, so I walked away from the stage for a while and waited to hear from her — for almost 35 minutes.
Ready to give up, I walked back to the stage one more time — and there she was, microphone in hand, dressed in all black just like she said she would be.
But the crowd quickly thinned out when she ordered guys to leave based on their looks or beliefs. Others realized it was a scam.
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Everything from that point felt like a car crash — you don’t want to watch but you can’t stop staring.
I stuck around for another 10 minutes but still didn’t understand exactly what had happened until the next day.
A guy like me went viral on Twitter. Then others came out of the woodwork.
Soon, a viral video marketer named Rob Bliss admitted that he was behind the whole thing — the same guy who had recorded hidden-camera footage of a woman being catcalled on New York City streets.
Tinder is far from perfect, but I’ve met some great people. However, I will be deleting the app.
After a gigantic waste of time Sunday, I left Union Square to have pizza and a drink with a friend. And that’s the way it will remain for the foreseeable future.
Because pizza never made me compete for its love.
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