Our generation is pretty screwed up
when it comes to the whole dating thing. “I’ll pick you up at 7 o’clock” has
turned into arriving at 7:15pm and sending a text saying, “I’m here” instead of
walking to the door to meet the parents. Snapchats and Instagram “likes” have
become acceptable forms of flirting. A “like” on Instagram is way more common
than a compliment in real life. Date night has evolved from going out to
dinner, playing putt-putt (a completely underrated pastime in my opinion) or
doing anything relatively thoughtful, to watching Netflix and maybe ordering a
pizza. Please don’t get me started on the whole, “Netflix and chill”
phenomenon.
It seems like no one is actually dating anymore. Everyone is
“talking” or “has a thing with someone” or is “kind of dating” that one guy
from B-Law on Thursdays. No one wants the commitment of a real relationship,
but they don’t want to be alone either. Lindsay, a junior at Loyola Marymount
University said, “There’s this stigma around the hook up culture in college.
People don’t date or show their partner affection. If you walk around campus,
you probably won’t see a single couple holding hands or kissing each other
goodbye.” A guy won’t take the girl he’s “talking to” on an actual date, but
when he sees that her best friend on Snapchat is another guy, he freaks out. A
girl doesn’t want to commit to the guy she “has a thing” with, but she gets mad
when she sees that he is liking other girls’ photos on Instagram.
I’m not sure when these actions
become acceptable substitutes for real life conversations of dates, but it’s
happened and it needs to change. I think we should bring back dating- Real,
honest to God, “I’ll pick you up at 7 o’clock” dating. According to Neil Clark
Warren, an American clinical psychologist, “over half of people who report
their relationship status as ‘single’ say they haven’t been on a real date in
two years.” Instead of sending a Snapchat to that person you have your eye on,
why not ask them out on a real date?
I get it. It’s scary. You have to
deal with the fear of being rejected. There’s also potential for it to be
really awkward, but honestly, there are worst tihngs in life. Sure, they might
say no. That’s a bummer, but it’s not the end of the world. At least you tried.
On the other hand, let’s pretend they say yes, and you do go on the date and
it’s really awkward. First of all,
take a deep breath. Again, this is not the end of the world. Tell some stupid
jokes. Talk endlessly about your family.
First dates are supposed to be
awkward. And if it’s really unfixable, at least you tried. You did better than
the rest of us, stuck at home Snapchatting the person they’re “talking
to.” I’m not saying that we all need to
go out and ask every person we’ve ever thought was cute out on a date. I’m not
saying that these dates need to be extravagant or meticulously planned out.
What I am saying is that there is nothing to lose.
If you
think the person you sit next to in calculus is cute, ask them to study
sometime. Instead of Snapchatting your crush constantly, go get ice cream. According
to Match.com, polling reports state that, “91 percent of men who use the site
are comfortable with a woman asking them out.” Suck on that, patriarchy. Ask
that person that you’ve always wanted to get to know better to hang out. Yes,
in person. What an interesting concept! Who knows? That random date you asked
someone on might be the start of a beautiful relationship.
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