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No Valentine? Try Coffee Meets Bagel, a Unique Dating Site

By William Peacock, Esq. on February 11, 2014 | Last updated on March 21, 2019

CMB. Coffee Meets Bagel. Purely for the sake of this blog, and to help the readers, I experimented with the oddly-named site and was blown away.

What makes this site different from all of those other dating sites and apps lawyers use that we've talked about? For one, the demographics skew towards educated and professional. Also, it avoids the biggest pitfall of most other sites: choice.

OK lonesome lawyers, listen up. We are going to save you time, money and maybe help you find a Valentine.

Background: Meeting People in Bars Doesn't Work

I live in a place called "Man Jose" by the locals. Nuff said there.

Instead, let me tell you about a recent trip to San Francisco. The venue was Grant and Green, a nice little dive bar in North Beach. A friend was recovering from recent ACL surgery, so we wanted to get him some fresh air. We were sipping on Guinness, listening to one of the greatest live bands either of us had ever heard, and mocking the sportscaster on the television. (He appeared to be the love child of Andy Reid and the purple McDonald's character, but with a comb-over.)

A young lady walked by and flashed her ring finger at us like she was in a Beyoncé video, presumably to tell us to stop checking her out because she was taken. I reflexively shook my head no and pointed to the object of our attention, the sportscaster on TV, six feet above her.

She turned red and walked out of the bar. My bad.

This, my friends, is why we can't meet people in bars. And yes, I am the first person to be rejected without showing or even having interest.

Traditional Dating Sites Are Miserable Failures

With a near-unlimited supply of desperately single people on online dating sites such as OkCupid, it's easy get lost in the window shopping. She's cute, but a Democrat. He's funny, but he likes Taylor Swift.

For guys, you basically have to spam, en masse, dozens of women to get a single response. She'll flake before you meet up. And the experience for women is even worse.

And then there are the profiles. You write 1,000 word essays, full of clever quips, only to read it a month later and realize that you sound like a serial killer.

CoffeeMeetsBagel: Free, Simple, and Utterly Lacking in Choice

One person at a time, and one per day. It's like the world's slowest speed dating, all online. Profiles are short and Mad Libs-esque: "I look like a Greek god, the adopted brother of Ryan Reynolds, and bearded."

Each day, you get one "bagel," which is typically pulled from friends-of-friends on Facebook.

You "Like" or "Pass." After you like or pass, you are presented with a platter of ten more bagels, which are not for you, but are for sending to friends. (Protip: for instances of love at first sight, try the "flea-flicker." You pass the bagel to a friend, then have him or her pass it back.)

If two people "Like" each other, CMB sends you both a text message, via an anonymous text line, providing first names and an icebreaker. The rest is up to you.

Have a dating app of choice? Help your fellow lonely lawyers out on our Facebook page.

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