People often share the cringy, smooth or downright bold conversation starters potential partners come up with on dating apps but a former NASA intern was not impressed when a guy started the chat by asking if she was a receptionist.
Planetary scientist Lauren Mc Keown posted screenshots of the interaction on Twitter and with the caption ‘and this, ladies and gentlemen, is why I am single’ it’s immediately clear her match didn’t succeed in winning her over.
The 28-year-old recently moved to London from Ireland, where she’d completed her PhD, so she used the dating app Hinge to try and meet some new people, CNN report.
On Friday I passed my PhD viva! Thanks so much to all of #academictwitter (everyone else is in my 6 pages of acknowledgements) 😂 This little online community of support has been invaluable. Here’s the newly announced Dr Lauren with my incredible advisor @megafloods 👩🏻🔬👩🏼🔬 pic.twitter.com/afGeIujTgM
— Dr Lauren Mc Keown (@mclaurenseries) February 20, 2019
She shared some details about herself on her profile, revealing the ‘dorkiest’ thing about her was the fact she worked at NASA; a revelation which caught the attention of one potential partner.
The self-proclaimed Mars geek worked as an intern at the space agency’s Ames Research Center in California, where she studied how to prevent bone density loss and muscle atrophy in astronauts making the months-long journey to the Red Planet.
It’s easy to see why the Hinge user used her job at NASA as a talking point; it’s certainly not something you hear every day and it’s natural to want to know more about it.
PixabayThe match made clear he was impressed by the fact as he responded ‘f*ck me that’s cool. Wait till I tell my parents’, however things went downhill even before Lauren was able to reply as the Hinge user went on to say ‘so what are you, like the receptionist?’
He continued with another message which read ‘jk you look reasonably smart’. Reasonably. Charming.
His comment hit a nerve with Lauren, whose mother works as a secretary at a school in Ireland. She credits her mother with encouraging her to finish her doctorate and so she wasn’t going to let her match’s comments slip by without protest.
And this, ladies and gentlemen, is why I am single 🤦🏼♀️ pic.twitter.com/E3XHNLZXan
— Dr Lauren Mc Keown (@mclaurenseries) August 14, 2019
The 28-year-old responded, writing:
Smart enough to know at least, that judging a woman’s intelligence based on her appearance might not be the best way to initiate conversation.
P.S. my mother is a primary school receptionist and is the wisest, most inspirational and kindest woman I know. So much so in fact, my PhD thesis is dedicated to her.
Complete with a waving hand emoji, Lauren’s response perfectly put the Hinge user in his place.
Her tweet has been shared over 16, 000 times since. The scientist didn’t share screenshots of the rest of their conversation but she said the guy told her he was joking and that she ‘shouldn’t take things so seriously.’ According to CNN, Lauren said she swiftly unmatched with the man.
She added:
I guess if you’re attracted to someone enough to initiate conversation, then try not to insult [them].
Hinge has since responded to Lauren’s tweet, saying the company doesn’t condone the kind of behaviour displayed by her match.
Haha! Aw thanks Hinge! ❤️If I ever get a date (😂) that would be very nice 😇thank you. What a nice way to respond. In fairness, I’ve never received an unsolicited lewd message on Hinge, unlike the other apps 🤔so you must be doing a good job at enforcing this policy!
— Dr Lauren Mc Keown (@mclaurenseries) August 15, 2019
They wrote:
Yikes. Hinge has a zero tolerance policy for behavior like this. We’re on it. And while we’re at it, your next Hinge date is on us. DM us! We hope you find someone worth deleting Hinge for soon.
Hopefully Lauren will have better luck with her matches in future!
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Emily Brown first began delivering important news stories aged just 13, when she launched her career with a paper round. She graduated with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University, and went on to become a freelance writer and blogger. Emily contributed to The Sunday Times Travel Magazine and Student Problems before becoming a journalist at UNILAD, where she works on breaking news as well as longer form features.