"Then we're done. Accept-Reject. Win-Lose. It's that simple."
"Simple? Or reductive? The decision to accept or reject a human being is being made
on a few pictures and a paragraph!"
"So?" Matt halted his thumb-typing. "Look, it's no different than meeting a
prospective partner in a bar or at a party. You check each other out, flirt a little, and
you hit it off-or you don't. The app just makes the party bigger."
"One must keep up with the times, dear," Madame advised with a wink. Then she
finished her espresso and tossed us a farewell wave. "My Silver Fox is in the coop!"
"I don't disagree with your mother," I told Matt when he finally joined us behind the
counter. "Keeping up with change is smart-from a practical standpoint. But there are
larger issues to consider."
"Like what?"
"Like change isn't always for the better, especially when it involves human nature."
Matt scoffed, but Esther countered-
"Ms. Boss ain't wrong. I read an article by a social scientist who believes these dating
apps are artificially turbo-boosting the 'hit-it-and-quit-it' culture, devolving excessive
users into the addictive cycle of Skinner box animals."
"See?"
Matt waved away my concern. As he tied on his apron, he pointed to his mother, who
was already happily on her way out the door with her dapper-looking date. Then he
challenged me to prove this "devolution" theory with a concrete example.