Under lockdown, New York singles want more than sex. Craigslist’s personal ads are suddenly sentimental, panicked, and tender—like a snapshot of the nation’s emotional fragility.

“Older white male here,” the ad on Craigslist begins. “This is getting crazy out there. I’d love to bunker down with a thick, curvy, hippie woman. Someone soft to the touch and pretty.”

“Ain’t no sunshine in quarantine,” reads the title of another ad, posted by a “6’4,” fit, very well educated man” in Queens. “What the hell. It has gotten that bad so here I am… Honestly would typically never do this but based on circumstances here I am… Let’s chat.”

Coronavirus Cuffing Season

New York City, the deadly epicenter of the coronavirus pandemic, is three weeks into a strict lockdown and, for many singles, it’s three weeks too long. Boredom, loneliness, anxiety, and horniness have prompted New Yorkers to embark on an urgent hunt for a quarantine bae, a partner they can hunker down with in their tiny apartment until the madness subsides.

“I call it coronavirus cuffing season,” relationship expert Susan Winter said. “It has been so apparent to me this is like 4 a.m. in the bar and you’ve gotta grab whatever you can. People are supremely lonely and scared, and they need to feel a sense of closeness and connection.”

Craigslist, usually a cluttered minefield of rental scams and dick pics, has become a bulletin board for coronavirus heartache. The personal ads have taken on a different tone; they’re sentimental, panicked, sad, and tender, like a snapshot of the nation’s emotional fragility. Posters are looking for virus-free love, “socially distant fun” or a quarantine “cuddle buddy” to see out the end of days.

“Looks like time has run out and I don’t want to face the end alone. This social isolation is killing me and I know it’s killing you too,” one ad says.

“I’m afraid that love may be dead and I want to meet someone who isn’t afraid of the pandemic,” says another, posted by a 5-foot-10, toned Colombian man in Queens, who describes himself as an old soul Gemini Sun/Sagittarius Moon who values stimulating conversation, old black and white films, and street photography.

Continue reading: https://www.thedailybeast.com/on-craigslist-the-hunt-for-a-quarantine-bae-is-real?source=articles&via=rss

 

Do you need relationship advice for when after the quarantine is over? Reach out to Susan today!