Date While You Wait: Unusual Metro Initiative Brings Fame to Creator and Happiness to Passengers

In the era of social distancing, the founder of the Date While You Wait initiative, Thomas Knox, got to know New Yorkers on the subway. Strikingly, the strangers didn't seem to mind spontaneous dating on subway platforms. New York Post.

Knox's invitation to sit with him for a friendly chat while the passengers waited for their train on the platform proved to be very successful. The conversations eventually turned into a TV show filmed during the pandemic. Now, thanks to this idea, Knox could receive the 2021 Emmy award.

“I was shocked at how many meaningful conversations I had,” said 34-year-old Knox. "I just want people to feel heard and understood."

When a friend canceled their dinner plans in 2015 due to chaos and public transport delays, Knox thought to himself, “Nothing good ever happens on the subway. I want to change that. "

The East Flatbush native brought a table, two chairs, and a glass cola bottle filled with flowers to the Union Square station platform for his first social experiment, Date While Waiting.

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“When I first came up with this idea, I didn't know if people would be interested in sitting and chatting with a complete stranger while waiting for the train,” Knox said, noting that he had no professional psychological education.

“Although the title contains the word“ date, ”it's not about romantic relationships,” he insisted. At the same time, he noted, some of the women he met on the subway expressed an interest in bringing communication to a new level. But Knox didn't have that goal: "I just wanted to create something that would bring a little bit of joy to the commute."

20 "dates" on the first day

On his first day of communication in the metro, Knox spoke with 20 passengers. Over the next several weeks, he spent more than five hours each day talking to bystanders.

Eventually, he started using board games like Connect 4 and Rock 'Em Sock' Em Robots for dating. This prompted even more people to join him for a fun rush hour respite.

Through Dating While Waiting, he met with leaders, ex-inmates, teachers and tourists. Knox created Facebook and Instagram accounts to keep in touch with his new friends.

"This is something special that needs to be shared with the masses."

Now Knox, who quit his job as an Apple sales representative to focus on Dating While Waiting, is shifting heartfelt conversations with passengers to television and streaming services.

“This is something special to share with the masses,” said David Katz, executive producer of Date While You Wait.

So, in February 2020, he organized a creative team to begin filming Knox's experiment. And when COVID-19 hit the next month, Katz and Knox didn't stop.

“We filmed all episodes in the midst of a pandemic,” Katz said, stressing that they strictly followed all New York health guidelines. "Nobody got sick with COVID-19."

First season release

First season "Dating while waiting" will be broadcast on the Fawesome.TV app. It will premiere on October 13 at 20:00 on NYC Life (WNYE-TV).

Meanwhile, the series was nominated for an Emmy in New York in the Interview / Discussion: Long Format category, with winners to be announced this fall.

“From the random guy talking to people on the subway to an Emmy nominee, it's amazing,” Knox summed up.