COMMENTARY | The stories are piling up, so we might as well tell the truth about it: People are joining Occupy Portland to find a date.
Yes, at first it seems just a tad sinister, and maybe a bit dishonest. But those who have met their current partner or strengthened their relationship because of Occupy Portland beg to differ. As one man put it, whose relationship with one of his current girlfriends began when they worked together during the encampment phase, “I met so many amazing people through Occupy, and she blew me away.”
Singles these days have the traditional options of the many high-quality restaurants and bars in Portland to meet someone, as well as online dating sites (on which 45 percent of Portlanders admit to having a profile). An active bunch overall, many couples meet through participating in Portlandian activities such as rock climbing, yoga, working or reading at coffee shops, hiking, biking, skiing, attending local concerts and shows, and even just exercising at the gym. As avid people with quirky-weird personalities and open minds that invent things to do when it rains (as it does constantly), Portlanders often crave the extra connection that a lot of these activities allow for and cultivate. Even so, there’s no guarantee that going to the climbing gym will net you a plethora of phone numbers of single men or women who feel the same way you do about the U.S. banking system.
Enter Occupy protests. The people at the encampment, and even more so now, are dedicated to a cause, and are smart and educated, and have a lot in common politically. Volunteering together with a friend or a date is a great bonding, get-to-know-each-other activity in general, and with Occupy, it intensifies. Why? “The intense feelings about the current socio-economic system and about the political landscape in the U.S. and the world can bond people instantly, especially if both are knowledgeable and respectful. They can work together constructively toward a common goal, and that will form a very powerful tie between friends and colleagues,” one Occupier puts it.
All the better if the people involved have a romantic connection.
Sometimes it goes awry, however. The familiar issue is starting to arise when one potential romantic interest is just not as attracted to the other. The situation creates a tension within Occupy that is very similar to a workplace romantic tension, only for Occupy protestors there are no hard and fast rules on dating within the group. On top of everything else, because it interferes with work and can make people feel uncomfortable, many people are actively eschewing potential romantic connections and others are working on Occupy separately from their respective partners.
“People that join the movement to meet a partner can find themselves lost and alienated,” one woman notes. “It doesn’t benefit anyone, especially the 99 percent, to join Occupy and not really believe in it.” Adds her friend, “It’s like pretending to be really into football to get a guy, only to realize later that you hate it and that the relationship is tedious.”