Watching You: Mapping America's Missed Connections

By Chuck Sudo in News on Feb 21, 2013 5:40PM

Illustration by Dorothy Gambrell

We get a guilty pleasure reading the missed connections section of Craigslist, mainly for the shock and awe of seeing where the loves not found are happening.

According to this handy map of missed connections across the United States by Dorothy Gambrell published in Psychology Today, they happen most often on trains in Illinois, which seems about right. In fact, missed connections on public transit and in gyms is more common on the coasts. (Men: If you’re looking for forward women, head to the Pacific Northwest.)

We also aren’t surprised to find missed connections at Wal-Mart dominating most of the Bible Belt and other Red states: God, guns, everyday low prices and love never found seem to have a symbiotic relationship. But the weirdest place for missed connections on this map has to be Indiana: “At Home.” WTF?

Can you imagine the missed connections ad from someone in Indiana? “I saw you nuking a Hot Pocket in my kitchen before we watched Wheel of Fortune. You thought ‘I Walk the Line’ was ‘I Have the Wine.’ I laughed and tried to make eye contact. Coffee sometime?”

(h/t Whet)