In mid-July 2020, Laura sent Matt a carefully curated text message on the online dating platform, Hinge. It read, "Hi!" Matt, always the connoisseur of small talk, responded with: "Hey Laura! Looks like you spent quite a bit of time in Latin America. Is that your destination of choice when vacationing?" Upon reading this message, Laura turned to her best friend Ruth and handed over the phone. Ruth, she knew, was the queen of wit. Ruth texted Matt many messages about Laura's love of canoeing (false) and her interest in going canoeing with Matt (also false). It was her proclaimed love for the outdoors that piqued Matt's interest. An avid marathoner (true), backpacker (true), and grill master (true), he was looking for a partner with similar interests. Picking up on his energy, Laura also suggested a 13 mile bike ride to the beach as a possible contender for their first date. Matt, possibly intuiting that Laura biked at the pace of a turtle, suggested cocktails. When the day of their first date arrived, Matt was uncharacteristically late. As he walked up to Laura, he was astonished, marveling at how she was more photogenic in person than in her dating profile. (A fact he told her much later.) Laura, for her part, was astonished that her date with Matt lasted more than one drink. In fact, she had made plans to meet up with Ruth later that evening to give her a plant. She explained this to Matt, ended their date, and walked him to a Citi Bike dock. Matt thought this was most likely Laura's way of saying "no thanks!", albeit a bit indirectly, until Ruth materialized on the street and introduced herself. His concerns abated, Matt texted Laura three days later. Since it was the pandemic, Laura and Matt became a "pod," very soon after.