There are all sorts of ways to meet people of the opposite sex: at church, at work, online, even in line at the supermarket.
With all those options, WECT wanted to know if bars and nightclubs have lost their luster as a place to meet and flirt.
Women:
At bars across New Hanover County, single women are dressed up and ready to have fun -- and maybemeet some single men.
At Dirty Martini, one young woman says she meets men by waiting for them to look at her. Another says she doesn't wait; she hits the dance floor to grab their attention.
"Typically, the shopping cart or the lawn mower, those are the dances that attract most of the single men in Wilmington," said Catherine Powell.
At 22 North at Wrightsville Beach, bartender Chris Hartley says the single men are definitely looking for some single ladies.
"Obviously, we have to get girls in here to get guys into the bar. Girls do spend a lot of money here at the bar, yes, but guys want to buy drinks for the girls," he said.
Single women say eye contact is key to catching a guy's attention.
"Kinda look away, you look back, you see if he's interested, and then you have to wait for him to approach you," Julia Vaillancourt said.
Single women say besides a come-hither glance, there are three necessities for a night on the town: a cell phone to store a phone number, makeup in case of oily skin and the secret weapon -- lip gloss.
But most women say the gloss goes on lips for talking, not kissing. Unlike Samantha on the HBO hit "Sex and the City," the majority of the women we talked to say they are not looking for a one-night stand.
"I just like to make guys feel stupid, because they think they're gonna get sex," said Alicia Sprague.
Reported by Kacey Gaumer
Men:
On a guy's night out in downtown Wilmington, most single men we encounter are looking to meet women with more than just shiny lipgloss. Or maybe less.
"The less makeup, probably, the better," one young man said.
Ryan Paris says all he's looking for is a girl to dance with, and just few minutes after we speak to him, he seems to get his wish. He's dancing at Rum Runners and has a lady laughing, though we can't tell if it's with him, or at him.
AtGoodfellas, the guys take their timeand plan their approach -- maybe sending a drink over as an opening gesture.
And while some are looking for love, others are looking for just a short fling, and they say they can find women in both camps.
"There are some girls that are just looking to be taken home, but then there are others you can build something more with," said Cameron Vines.
The guys say finding a girl takes honesty, but even then, they say theclock is ticking.
"If you talk to a girl after 12:30 or 1 (a.m.).... then you probably don't want to talk to them again after that," said Josh Kneeland.
Butat least one man is looking for something to last more than just one night.
"You may see a beautiful girl, but after a while if they don't talk with you, you're not really finding out what's on the inside," said Stewart Augustine.
Reported by Joe Keiley
