Fredericton — A young pair recently agreed to make each other part of their family bubble after matching on the popular dating app Tinder.
Kaitlyn Thompson of Dartmouth, N.S. and Ryan Mullin of Keswick Ridge, N.B. matched on Tinder just a week after New Brunswick implemented a state of emergency which created strict rules for social distancing. The two respected the rules and only kept in touch online.
When the province allowed citizens to extend their family bubble on April 24, the pair jumped at the chance to meet in person, meeting that evening at Ryan’s place on Graham Street.
Kaitlyn explained her decision for us. “I’m studying at UNB but all of my family are in N.S. I chose to stay in N.B. to finish my degree rather than have to fully self-quarantine by returning home. All of my friends have family so I didn’t have anybody else I could include in my new family bubble.”
Ryan also didn’t have many options to extend his bubble. “My parents and my brother’s family included each other because he has kids they want to see. He’s really been their favourite since I dropped out of NBCC two years ago anyways.”
The excitement for the couple soon wore off, though.
“After we hooked up we started to talk and that’s when I realized that I made a huge mistake,” Kaitlyn explained. “He has no ambition, I found out that he works 20 hours a week at a call centre and spends the rest of his time drinking energy drinks and yelling at kids over some video game.”
“This hasn’t been great for me either,” Ryan added. “After we hooked up she really changed. I thought she was really chill but she kept asking me what I did for work, what my plans were for the future — I could already tell she wanted to change me, but I’m happy with who I am!”
Despite lacking any real connection, the couple plan to keep seeing each other. “Sure, we don’t really get along but we can still hook up…it’s not like there’s much else to do these days,” Ryan told us.
“Now that we’ve extended the family bubble to each other there’s really no going back,” said Kaitlyn. “It’s not great, but he’s the only person I can have any real contact with for the time being, so I’m not going to throw that away at a time like this — we’ll just have to work things out.”
Both Kaitlyn and Ryan plan to make the most of their situation, but warn others to be more cautious. “You can’t have a quick hookup like before — you only have one chance at this, so you have to make sure you match with somebody you’re willing to spend a few weeks, maybe even a few months with,” Kaitlyn warned.
Kaitlyn and Ryan plan to join each other on walks and take up golfing because there’s not much else to do these days.