When Collier Fernekes tweeted a DM she had received from a Tinder match, she didn’t expect it to go viral. Like, almost 67,000 likes viral.
The 26-year-old research analyst, who lives in Fort Totten, had swiped right on a guy named John earlier this month. She liked him because she thought he was cute and he had a funny PowerPoint in his bio outlining all the reasons why someone should date him (“We could meet for drinks and I’ll get anxious,” “Really great at responding to texts”). Fernekes swiped right, then forgot to check the app for a few days. But when she did, she realized she had a message from John, and John wanted to make Fernekes some French fries.
This might be the most effective pickup strategy I’ve ever seen pic.twitter.com/RrWXN6MUk3
— Collier Fernekes (@CFernekes) March 21, 2021
She was immediately intrigued. Not only does she freaking love French fries, but his note was funny, and a breath of fresh air. “My initial thought was it wasn’t the typical DC question of, ‘Where do you work? And what do you do?,’ which made me happy. And then I also thought it was a good example of non-toxic masculinity, because it was not overtly inundating [me] with harassment or anything like that. It was just about fries,” she says. “And then my third thought was just that I wanted the fries.”
Fernekes posted John’s initial DM on Twitter, and it took off. The internet, full of people sitting at home counting down the days until they’re vaccinated and the world opens once more, was fully invested in Fernekes’s blossoming, French fry-fueled love story. Would she respond? Would they meet up? Would they eat the French fries?
Update: pic.twitter.com/DdYezwzKPx
— Collier Fernekes (@CFernekes) March 21, 2021
Fernekes told John about the post blowing up online, and they laughed at the Twitter responses together. She continued to post updates to the thread, leading up to the duo’s first Zoom date last night.
Fernekes says she had more than just typical first-date jitters, likely because there was a virtual peanut gallery of tens of thousands of people eagerly awaiting a play-by-play. “I was very nervous,” she says. “I don’t think I normally would have been. But because of the momentum that picked up on Twitter, I felt some sort of pressure for it to go well.”
But it went great, she says—they talked for over two hours, covering topics like their mutual love of the TV show Twin Peaks (he has a Twin Peaks tattoo), the band The Velvet Underground, and Wes Anderson movies. And, with his consent, she thankfully live-tweeted the whole thing for us.
HE IS SO CUTE OMG pic.twitter.com/1GaCevgxaf
— Collier Fernekes (@CFernekes) March 23, 2021
He said I was adorable and he was crushing on me hard 😭😭😭
— Collier Fernekes (@CFernekes) March 23, 2021
Okay, so the question everyone wants to know—what’s next? A French fry proposal? French fry wedding? French fry babies?
Well, TBD. Fernekes gets her second dose of the vaccine at the end of this month, after which the duo has plans to meet up and actually make the fries together in person.
While she had no idea that opening a DM on Tinder would receive this kind of publicity, overall it’s been a fun, lighthearted few days on the internet for Fernekes. “I’ve loved the responses from some people. Overwhelmingly it’s positive, and people enjoy a good, edge-of-your-seat love story,” she says. “I didn’t realize people were going to be so invested. And now I have over 66,000 people invested in my love life.”
For all those 66,000 people, fear not—Fernekes plans to post updates from the duo’s second date, where she’s thinking they’ll likely dip the fries into a remoulade sauce. And, yes, for the record, she does like Cajun seasoning.
Mimi Montgomery joined Washingtonian in 2018. Her work has appeared in Outside Magazine, Washington City Paper, DCist, and PoPVille. Originally from North Carolina, she now lives in Petworth.
