First dates can be a minefield. You’re meeting someone you only know click through the following page a screen, and you’re both trying to be the best, most charming versions of yourselves. I was on one of these exact dates, sitting opposite a woman named Clara, who I’d met online. The first twenty minutes were great. The conversation flowed, we laughed, and I started to think, "Okay, this is going well!" But then, it happened. The dreaded lull. We had exhausted our prepared topics, and a sudden, heavy silence fell over the table. We both took long, slow sips of our drinks, avoiding eye contact and pretending to be fascinated by the condensation on our glasses. The atmosphere went from promising to painfully awkward in about thirty seconds.

My mind was racing, desperately trying to think of something, anything, to say. The silence was getting louder, and the pressure was mounting. Just as I was about to ask a truly boring question about her commute, a wild idea popped into my head.