The impact of the coronavirus crisis on singles is more than just a feeling of loneliness. Especially for those who were already registered on dating sites and apps and who, ironically, found the rare gem just days before confinement. An unprecedented situation that somewhat forced destiny and forced lovers to make a quick choice: can we do it together? The couples composed of Shirley and Lauric, on the one hand, and Elora and Kevin, on the other, said Banco by taking this perilous step, without knowing each other too much.
And for the others, the period of confinement was not at all synonymous with inactivity on the dating sites and apps. According to a Meetic study, one of the main leaders in online dating, 77% of singles said they used their services "as much or more" than before confinement. On Sunday March 22, the number of exchanges even approached the record for “love sunday” (the first Sunday of the year), traditionally the most active day.
Finally, only 20% of singles finally found it frustrating not to be able to meet immediately "in person". This is not the story of our two witness couples.
Kevin and Elora: "We still can't realize what is happening to us"
First meeting on March 11, confined together six days later. Who says better than Kevin and Elora? "It was obvious! “, Dares the young couple when we are surprised at the speed of such a decision. There too, it all started on the Meetic dating site where both are in the perspective of a serious story. He, 31, has been registered since January, she, 25, since November. Some meetings ensue with others, but "no spark," admits Elora, mechanical engineer.
Until each of its side "like" the profile of the other, behind his computer near Nantes (Loire-Atlantique). “Looking at Elora's characteristics, I felt that it was me in the feminine, decrypts Kevin. She wants children, me too, we have a common passion for the piano… ”But it was Elora who drew the first, by sending a message on March 1 to Kevin. We are already talking about the coronavirus epidemic, an imminent confinement, "but we were in another world", apologizes Elora. Anxious atmosphere, you speak!
They then exchange "virtually" and very quickly share "the feeling of knowing each other for a long time", adds the thirty-something charge d'affaires. "So much so that when he rang my house during the first meeting, we immediately kissed," says the young woman. Monday, March 16 in the evening, the announcement of confinement becomes official, neither one nor two, Kevin leaves to take some business and settles down at his beautiful. Do not look for a cloud, Kevin warns: "We are always in phase on everything", despite "some disputes". We tick on the "always" which has lasted just over a month, the couple laughs.
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And the reaction of loved ones? Of the family ? "This confinement will serve as a good test," sums up the general feeling fairly well. Hit or miss. Part of the parents of the couple has since been entitled to official presentations, the other expects to welcome them during the summer holidays. In the meantime, the young people expect to have found their common accommodation. Moving in sight to establish a home. "We still cannot realize what is happening to us," admits Elora, who does not hesitate to describe her darling as "the ideal man". What a gamble! What confidence in the future! "With or without confinement, anyway, it would have been quick for both of us," says Kevin. So obvious ...
Shirley and Lauric: "It was quits or double"
How to spend in less than a month the single, father of three children from two different unions, without particular desire for a new life for two, co-manager of a blended family, associated with his sweet with whom he now seeks a roof common? Lauric succeeded in this feat, and this in full containment.
"She turned everything upside down," simply sums up the 40-year-old man. "She" is Shirley. Until the evening of February 21, this first restaurant, this 42-year-old seamstress, based in Marseille (Bouches-du-Rhône) with her daughter, was just a profile on a dating site. At the meeting, we like, we kiss and normally the emerging love story must take its course. Except that the epidemic of coronavirus, and especially the effective containment on March 17, made pass the second to the two lovebirds.
“We were both watching TV when the ad fell. What to do ? Either we didn't see each other at all, while it lasted, or we saw each other all the time, 24 hours a day, including with the children we have in alternate custody. We decided to go on this adventure: to live together, ”says the professional integration counselor. Between them, there are three girls aged 11 to 13, every other week, and a little one, almost 5 years old, every other weekend.
"Yes, we went to six in an apartment made for four, to manage the homework ... It was a little camping and the summer camp at the same time, but it was great. Our temperaments, to Shirley and to me, have adapted wonderfully well. I loved these moments, curled up on the sofa, cooking, getting to know us, lists the inhabitant of Martigues. In full confinement, we cannot decide what we want to show or not to the other. It's really a test. "
What about presentation to children at lightning speed? “It's a big step, that's for sure and the situation has speeded things up a lot. But my two daughters and that of Shirley immediately got on well, they are almost the same age, the same interests. With my little boy, it took a little longer, he was very attached to me at first, but it's over. It was quit or double and we did very well ”, judge Lauric bluntly. Today's program: managing the sale of his apartment, for Shirley, that of his house, finding a nest for everyone and buying a car for six.
