Photo: keriliwi via Unsplash.
In Spain these days, a pineapple means you are available.
I’m sharing a funny dating story from September with the caveat that global warming may have upset everything in the short time since then. That’s because the lighthearted craze described here may have been inundated in the recent floods. On the other hand, maybe I should give more credit to the resilience of the human spirit. Especially when it comes to dating.
Guy Hedgecoe writes at the BBC, “A Spanish craze encouraging single people to seek partners in supermarkets by using a fruit-based code has caused some chaotic scenes and even led to the police being called to restore order.
“In recent days, many single Spaniards have been drawn to branches of supermarket chain Mercadona between 7pm-8pm by claims they can find romance at that time, particularly if they put a pineapple upside down in their shopping trolley.
“The phenomenon seems to have been driven in great part by the actor and humorist Vivy Lin, who posted a video on TikTok of her pushing a trolley around a Mercadona store talking about the supposed window. …
“The pineapple maneuver is reportedly completed by pushing your trolley into the wine section of the store and hoping that a person you find attractive responds positively.
“As the story has gone viral, it has led to some unusual and sometimes disorderly sights.
“In Madrid there have been reports of groups of teenagers pushing trolleys around stores in the evening, without buying products.
‘One man was dressed as a giant pineapple by his friends inside a store as part of his bachelor party celebrations.
“In Bilbao, police were called to a branch of Mercadona during the 7pm-8pm time slot because of rowdy scenes inside, although they were not required to intervene.
“A song, circulating online, has further driven the success of the trend, with the words: ‘In the wine section / My heart races / Looking for someone special / That my soul needs.’ …
“While the latest use of the fruit may have proved popular with some, there have been reports that the pineapple mania has not found favor with many Mercadona employees who are left to clear up unpurchased goods.
“One video showed a worker pushing boxes of the fruit away from shelves and towards a storeroom as 7pm approached.”
Meanwhile at the Washington Post, Leo Sands interviews a Malaga resident, ” ‘I think that currently the apps are very monotonous and people are already looking for something different,’ said Gustavo Contreras, a 28-year-old waiter living in Malaga, on Spain’s southern coast. …
“Contreras, who said he knows people who have met by crashing their carts together, said he spent about an hour carting around an upside-down pineapple at his local Mercadona store twice last week, but failed to knock carts with anyone else.
“The first time, ‘I went in and grabbed a pineapple and went around with my cart. I was going to go shopping anyway, but I realized that when I carried a pineapple, there were some knowing glances on 2 occasions,’ he said in a text message Wednesday. ‘I could feel the tension in the stares.’
“When he returned to the store the next day to try again, Contreras said that there were no pineapples left — a shortage he attributed to the popularity of the new dating craze.”
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