Chemist Warehouse encounter signals new dating trend: 'Sick of dating apps'

Once upon a time, you were in the minority (and probably a little bit judged) if you had met your partner online. But in 2024, you are greeted with shock and awe if you reveal you met your soulmate in Woolies as you lamented the price of a single capsicum instead of swiping right on their profile picture.

Previous reports have even suggested that 70% of couples will have met online instead of in real life by 2040. With the meet-cute stories we love to see in films or hit TV shows like Nobody Wants This slowly becoming a thing of the past, you can understand why the younger generation is giving up on them altogether.

Besides, if we met someone unexpectedly in real life, would we even have the courage to show our interest? Or have dating apps taken away our ability to live in the moment and "shoot our shot"?

26-year-old Sydneysider Juliana Murace recently went to what some might see as an "extreme" length to rectify a missed connection after feeling too nervous to ask a guy she met in Chemist Warehouse for his number in person.

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Speaking to Yahoo Lifestyle, Juliana explained that it was a random Thursday night when she headed into Manly, on Sydney's Northern Beaches, to grab some more iron supplements.

She asked an employee for help, but before they could reply, Juliana says, "I hear a voice behind me saying, 'Oh, I just found those myself, let me show you where they are!''"

"I turn to see a super cute guy smiling at me, and he walks me over to the right aisle where the supplement was, and no wonder I couldn’t find it – it looked like it was out of stock because the shelf was empty," she explains. "They had more unpacked stock on the very top shelf (that I couldn’t reach), and without asking, he grabbed it for me."

Juliana said that she wanted to hover a little longer or say something else but she "came up blank."

"So I just smiled, said 'Thank you', went to the counter and left soon after. I felt there was a little mutual attraction, but the interaction happened so fast I couldn’t process it fully, so it is really hard to say what he was thinking or feeling."

Gen Z's bold move after missed opportunity

Making a bold move later, Juliana took to a local Facebook group with a message for her mystery man.

"Dear cute guy shopping at Chemist Warehouse in Manly around 830pm tonight (Thursday) and sweetly helped me find my iron supplements... Deep regrets not shooting my shot and not asking for your number. If it's fated and you see this, call me?!"

Explaining why she hadn't just asked him in the moment, Juliana says, "I wasn’t necessarily expecting to bump into a cutie there [in Chemist Warehouse] in the first place, let alone what I would ask/say/bond over if I did! I suppose I could have said 'Oh thank you…hey so…you iron deficient too?' which could have honestly been a laugh and an awkward moment, just not my flirtiest line, so I hesitated to say anything at all!"

Gen Z getting sick of apps

Like many people today, Juliana, who has been single for about 6 months, has tried dating apps to meet someone special but says that she is sick of them.

"It is SO common now that people are sick of dating apps, and I completely get it," she tells Yahoo Lifestyle. "It can be a great tool to meet someone, and I have had some beautiful relationships from it. But, more than often, dating apps have their faults, and I feel these have got increasingly worse over time."

Citing too many choices and too few connections, as well as an algorithm that is designed to keep you swiping instead of wedding dress shopping, Juliana says that apps can make you feel "rather jaded about the dating scene."

People still rely on apps to meet

However, Sydney couple Kate, 34, and Ben, 36, may not even be together today if it weren't for a dating app, even though the pair had seen each other several times on their morning commute.

"I’d catch the bus into the city every morning and every so often I would see this guy (my now boyfriend Ben). I liked the look of on the same bus," Kate told Yahoo Lifestyle. "There were a couple of times I thought I’d see him looking my way and we would have a little bit of eye contact but that was it. Never a word spoken.

"Then, one hungover morning in a moment of weakness I opened up my Tinder app (I’d been off the apps for a couple of months) and within a couple of swipes, there he was! Bus Boy! I swiped right and it wasn’t an immediate match (to my horror). But within the hour he had matched and messaged me. In one of the first couple of messages he says, ‘I think I’ve seen you on the 442 before’. (So he had noticed me!) We arranged a date at a local pub for the next afternoon and the rest is history!"

Kate says that although she was attracted to Ben she would never have approached him on the bus and that if he had tried to approach her she would have "been way too awkward."

"There’s too much social anxiety in that kind of setting for me," she says.

Even though Tinder eventually brought the couple - who have been dating for over a year - together, Kate says it would have been nice if they could have had the guts to speak in person first.

"I often cringe saying we met on Tinder," she said. "I tend to say ‘We officially met on Tinder but we saw each other on the bus first!’ So yeah it probably would have been nicer if we did speak to each other in person first. But at the same time, I’m grateful for Tinder bringing us together because I honestly don’t think it would have happened otherwise."

Advice for single people: 'Go for it'

For Juliana, she has yet to find her Chemist Warehouse Romeo but that does not mean that she has lost faith in fate - or the power of Facebook.

"I am a big believer in destiny, and I like to leave it to the universe to do its thing. So, I saw this as an opportunity to give it ‘one more chance’, and to leave the rest up to fate if we meet or not. I am sure if we are meant to meet again, we will, whether it is on Facebook, or bumping into each other again in person."

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In the meantime, she encourages anyone looking for love to be confident and not be afraid to (respectfully) approach someone they are interested in.

"If I see an opportunity and inspiration strikes, I go for it - so far (over the span of a couple of years) there has been a waiter, a security guard, a cute guy with mutual followers on Instagram, and I have even written a little note with my number on it to give to a cutie at the beach."

She continues: "[Being brave] is such a powerful mindset it can change your entire life, and I know my life has changed from it – from starting my own business at 19 to making new friends at random events or meeting new romantic interests.

"Do it, and never look back! You have nothing to lose."

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