This Ontario couple met while waiting in line at the grocery store

We live in the golden era of dating apps, and when people talk about modern love stories, it usually involves swipes, likes, and DMs. 

While I'm a millennial, as glued to my phone as anyone else from that era, I'm still a tad old-fashioned. Despite years of spectacularly awkward flops, I still hold on to this stubborn notion that I can meet someone organically. Maybe it's a little hopelessly romantic, but I like to think there's an oddball out there for all of us and that one day, by some miracle, we'll cross paths without even really trying.

It's hard not to notice (or be incredibly envious) when it seems like everyone else has luck on their side with meet-cute stories playing out like scenes out of a Richard Linklater movie.  

'Tis the season, so in my quest to surround myself with inspiring love stories, I came across one couple who proves that, yes, life can actually feel a little like an indie rom-com.

Brittany and Adam Rosen from Oakville, Ont., have been together for 13 years and married for eight years. They have two kids and another one on the way. 

Brittany tells blogTO about how they met. It wasn't on an app. It wasn't at a bar. It wasn't through a friend. They met in line at a grocery store on a Friday night. 

"Adam was in front of me in the line [at Sobey's] and making terrible dad jokes to the new cashier," she says. "She looked terrified and confused, but I was finding it humorous. I actually gave him a once-over and realized he was cute."

At that moment, Brittany describes Adam as witty, handsome and "very Seth Cohen adjacent." You know, Adam Brody's character in The O.C.: the slightly awkward yet charming hipster nerd with impeccable taste in music.

Brittany says she kicked herself for not saying anything to Adam while at the check-out counter. 

But the universe wasn't quite done with them yet.

Brittany and Adam Rosen celebrating the 2025 holidays with their kids. Image courtesy Brittany Rosen.

"Upon leaving the store and getting into my car, as I was backing out, he pulled up next to me and asked for my name. Then he seemed to chicken out and drove off. And I was like, 'What?! No!'"

Despite my admittedly delusional sense of romance from growing up on Nora Ephron movies, meet-cutes are increasingly rare these days. Brittany agrees that, with the excess of social media and the lingering effects of a post-COVID world, people just aren't connecting in the spontaneous, IRL way previous generations did.

"I think it's almost easier to hide behind a screen so you don't feel as vulnerable if you get turned down, or it doesn't go the way you had hoped," she says. How many of us, myself included, can relate to that? 

Back to the scene of the meet-cute: Brittany and Adam continued making eyes at each other through their car mirrors as they both headed out in the same direction. After a couple of turns, Brittany pulled over and jokingly asked him, "Are you following me home?"

"He said, 'No, I'm sorry. I just meant to get your number, but I chickened out. Can I have your number?'"

Of course, Brittany said yes. 

"We met at a Starbucks the next day, and the rest is history."

After hearing their story, I can't help but glance over my shoulder every time I'm grabbing frozen pizza and cat food at my local grocer. Guess you just never know who you might bump into.