Sitting at the local French bistro for a first date, Ryan Bowman, 26, couldn’t help but be distracted by the clear difference between his date’s actual wheelchair and the one in his profile picture on the dating app.
“I stood there for like ten seconds as I saw him,” said Bowman. “I even started to get my phone out to check the picture again.”
Howard Perry, 24, who was paralyzed in a car accident, had taken his photo with the camera angled upward, making his seat height look closer to 19 inches than 18 inches.
“Of course, it doesn’t matter in the end,” said Bowman, recalling that he had been particularly attracted to the wheelchair’s broad frame and wide wheels. “But it feels dishonest.”
He kept pausing the conversation to check the wheelchair, which had a noticeably less glossy finish than in the photo.
“Maybe the lighting was different,” said Bowman. “I want to give him the benefit of the doubt.”
The wheelchair was completely oblivious to Bowman’s silent judgment and spent the rest of the date innocently parked on the ground.
As he left the date, Bowman changed his dating profile to include: “19-inch seat height or don’t bother.”