to tinder or not to tinder?

Two weeks in and I have to say, I think there may be a lot of good stories coming up. And that, ladies and gents, is because I have decided to play along the new way to meet people in New York, which is basically all digital. And it's changing so fast I can't keep up.

Last week, I went for dinner with a friend, and she was surprised to find out that I didn't know about the latest on the New York dating scene: Tinder. It's an app, that has sort of revolutionised cyber-dating, because it has millions of users, and tells you if you have Facebook friends in common (which is helpful if you're worried about freaks out there). Also, it's super user friendly and sort of addictive, because you get to check out hundreds of guys just by scrolling, and you X them if you don't like what see. If you do like a guy, you click "like" --and if he likes you back, then you're a match. Which means you can start chatting privately. And so, at dinner with Anna, I downloaded the app and was instantly hooked. In 24 hours, I had conversations going with Jason, 34; Tim, 29; and Jesse, 30. Weird? Definitely. Fun? Yes. And I have date.

It's the sort of thing I would've never thought I'd be doing, but here I am, dating in New York in 2014. And if that involves too much of my smart-phone, I guess it's to be expected.

So back to that date --after a small conversation on Tinder, I decided that Jason, 34, seemed nice enough for me to meet. And interesting enough too. So I said yes, let's go for drinks. I got in cab even though the place we were meeting was 15 min away walking --it's just too cold in New York City. And the cab driver turned out to be this Greek older man who had been to Beirut in 1975 when he was sailor. "You're going to meet your boyfriend?" he asked me. I said no, going on a first date. "No! Not a blind date?" Yes, a blind date, I've never met the guy. "Oh! Thank God I'm not a woman" he says in his greek accent. "I would have to date all these American men!"

I get to Miss Lily's and I look around the room, and I don't see a guy matching his picture. So I text him to let him know I'm here. "I'm here too" he answers. I'm confused. I don't see him. We exchange about 5 texts before we realise we are actually not in the same place. Finally, he walks up behind me: he actually does look like his picture.

But a picture isn't enough. Neither is good conversation, it turns out. I am happy that I actually dared to go on what was basically a blind date that started on a phone app.

I'm experiencing our times, you see --and then using it to write.