How is it that in a city of millions the one time you are hungover, can’t be arsed to shower and put on clean clothes before popping to the shop you run into that person? OK, we haven’t not showered just the once but sometimes it seems like life just wants to kick you in the balls (or the…well, you know).

Enter Tinder, where you can flirt from the safety of your sweatpants with complete strangers whilst they gaze on your carefully selected photos. The thing is that as the dating app becomes more popular those awkward ‘oh I know this person’ moments are becoming all too frequent.

Tinder’s VP of corporate communications and branding Rosette Pambakian responded to a Daily Beast writer’s concerns with the following:

The beauty of Tinder is all it takes is a swipe left and that person will never come up in your Tinder feed again. And it’s anonymous—they’ll never know you swiped left.

Of course that doesn’t change the fact that they may have already laid eyes on you. Tinder users surveyed in the US tended to react differently when they saw people they knew. The Daily Beast again:

Wudan, a 25-year-old in New York, said she tends to swipe left on Tinder when she sees someone she knows. “I just like to have a clean slate. I don’t want to go on a date with anyone who knows anything about me,” she said…

However, others said that running into old classmates from college or high school can be awkward or potentially a fun way to reconnect platonically.

“If I knew someone, I would automatically swipe right, even if I wasn’t interested in dating them. It would be a way just to say ‘hi,’” said Casey Ryan, a 24-year-old woman in the Chicago area.

Then there’s the worst encounter of all…the run-in with the ex:

Coming across old flames on dating apps and sites can induce a mix of panic, sadness, and all the other negative feeling of doubt and yearning associated with the immediacy of a breakup.

Seeing them is proof that they are not living a life of self-imposed mournful chastity—as I assume all of us hope our exes do.

On the plus side they may have packed on a few pounds, which as we all know really is one of the most satisfying feelings in the world.

[source:dailybeast]