What's his sign?
One man's quest to change the life of every single person
From Saturday Night, February, 2000

Conrad Martin, a fifty-year-old divorcee, carpeting consultant, inventor, and entrepreneur, can recall the precise eureka moment at which he came up with the idea for the Single Friendly Signal. "It was July of 1997 and I was sitting in a cafe, having a nice cup of tea, and all of sudden two attractive women in their mid-thirties walked in," he says. "One of the women caught my eye and smiled, but her friend took over the conversation and she had to keep talking to her friend. And before you knew it, they walked out." Martin had an epiphany. 'Right there: I decided that there's got to be an easier way to meet people,' he explains. 'I wanted some way of relaying a message to the other individual in case it happened to me again. I went through a number of ideas but the crossed finger seemed to be the least obvious method of making your intentions known."

Thus, the Single Friendly Signal was born.

Achieved by crossing the index and middle finger (in a manner strikingly similar to crossing one's fingers for good luck), the gesture is meant to, convey the message: "See you tomorrow at the same time at the same place." (Or, if you prefer the digital lexicon of the Single Friendly Web site: "See you tomorrow @ Same Time @ Same Place.") Martin explains: "There are many occasions where you might see someone, but the other person is with someone else and it's awkward to make contact. Or maybe the person's buddy is judgmental. That can be a big drawback.

This way, only the two of you" — the signaler and the signalee — "have to know what's going on."

Of course, the gesture will only work if potential recipients recognize this romantic sign language. Part of Martin's plan is to approach grocery stores, restaurants, bars, etc., and persuade them to post Single Friendly" stickers in the windows, informing people that they are entering a single friendly zone. And, last year, Martin founded www.singlefriendly.com, which he hopes will not only encourage familiarity with the signal, but will eventually become a kind of town-hall-meets-Web-mall, providing information, compassion, and shopping at on-line stores that offer products tailored to the needs of single people and their disposable income.

So far, reaction to the site, and the signal, has been mixed. Apparently, marrying the words "single" and "friendly" — especially on the Web — is more likely to generate visions of an electronic bordello than of a comprehensive resource for the significant other less. Since the summer of 1999, Martins been distributing flyers and posters throughout downtown Toronto, and he's already been forced to fend off one irate city inspector. "She was upset at my postering because she thought Single Friendly was a sex site," Martin says, grinning. Battling misconceptions is just one element of his ambitious mandate to "change the future of being single."

Martin, who has been single himself for nearly a decade, openly dreams about a billion dollar IPO, or one day seeing his site used as a plot point on Friends. According to his brochure, Single Friendly's primary business goal is to "become the world's biggest provider of goods and services to the single population." If he can't find Canadian investors, he plans to move south to the States. "But no matter what happens," he vows, "the signal will remain."

The utility of the Single Friendly signal seems obvious, though it does raise some logistical quandaries. For example: what if the signaled person is interested, but isn't free to meet you the following day @ the same time @ the same place? "That would be a problem," Martin says. "If it was really someone I wanted to meet, I would try showing up the next day, and the day after that." And how might the signaled party indicate that they aren't interested, without resorting to more widely recognized if less socially acceptable hand gestures? "I think it's enough of a response to smile at the person who's making the signal. A smile says, 'Thank you, but no thanks." Martin feels the signal will ultimately be more of a help than a hindrance. "I can't see it creating problems. Either they show up or they don't. If they don't, it's just one of those things that wasn't meant to be. You haven't lost anything, you haven't gained anything. After all, what is life if you can't make a fool of yourself sometimes?"