On the Elliptical Last Thursday? (M4F)

Study finds Virginia most likely to miss love connections at the gym.

In Hawaii, it’s the beach. In Oklahoma, it’s the state fair. In North Carolina, it’s Wal-Mart. And in Virginia, the place where we’re most likely to miss a love connection is the gym.

That’s according to an analysis by Psychology Today of the “missed connections” listings of each state posted online at the free classifieds service Craigslist.

If you aren’t familiar with the genre, missed connection ads typically follow plaintive eye contact and possible sparks between potential mates in public spaces. In lieu of a conversation or an exchange of contact information, one half of the connection takes to the Internet, describing the noninteraction in hopes that the other half will see the ad and respond.

In Virginia, that’s most likely to happen at the gym, the study finds, so that stranger’s stare from the treadmill beside you may just be the beginnings of a beautiful online connection. Psychology Today’s analysis also reveals that nationally, missed connections among 20-somethings were most likely to occur in ice cream shops. Among posters with a median age of 30, it was bars. And things get seeder at age 40, where most occurred in strip clubs or adult bookstores.

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