Because spot chemical sales and dating have both moved online.
Ptshhhh! Groan. Tumbleweed.
My apologies for the homemade joke, but it came to mind last weekend when I finally found time to catch up with my former boss and mentor. Over a glass of beer we talked about the great changes taking place in the chemicals industry, which naturally led to nostalgic talk about the ‘good old days’.
He spoke kindly of the chemical trading directory ‘ring around’ and the conferences that were part of his many years as a spot chemical trader.
He also spoke with fatherly pride of his two daughters, the younger of which will be starting university in the autumn, whilst the older has just graduated, and laughed at the dating game that they were now both playing.
Eye to eye contact, it seems, is no longer a requirement for true love, for their respective boyfriends are both miles away focusing on their own studies. Passions must be maintained via Skype, WhatsApp, Viber, Insta-chat, Twitter and facebook.
We both chuckled at the absurdity of e-love, before it dawned on us how much easier dating must be if you don’t need the courage to ask a girl out in person. Instead you can flirt by phone and have chatted to twenty different girls via Tinder by the end of your commute to work.
It seems to have gone the same way for finding a chemical trading partner. Village hall dances, lonely-hearts columns and a ‘little black book’ have largely been consigned to history. In their place, today’s chemicals trader have started utilising online chemical trading matchmakers like Alibaba or Spotchemi (who host this blog), when they want to find true love.
But if you still think that you have a better chance of finding romance on the dance floor than via Match.com then please feel free to continue. In fact you may still find some help online via gotcheeseypickuplines.com, which can supply you with quotes such as, ‘Is there a science room nearby, or am I just sensing the chemistry between us?’.
You never know, it might be useful the next time you’re at a night club/conference. As for me, I could tell you my best chemical conference chat up line; it’s the one about the sodium trader, but …Na.