It’s the word not said out loud. The word that disappeared when the nineties babies started having babies. It’s been replaced in conversation, almost completely eliminated from the common college student vocabulary.
Dating.
Who dates anymore? As in a date that’s out of the dorm room, one that involves food not delivered in a van that conveniently shows up at one in the morning post hookup resulting in one very annoyed sexiled roommate who you’ll probably never even meet. Those nights are great, don’t misinterpret. But if that’s all that’s going on with the college love/lust scene, it gets old real fast.
It seems that the dating world should be exploding, with apps and sights like Tinder and Match throwing their “find lust and love quick” schemes. But for many, those result in people just wanting hook ups. This doesn’t mean those options don’t work for some people. Some people meet their long term partners with these outlets, and we, the single, applaud you.
But what happened to meeting someone, deciding there was attraction and being like “hey, I’d like to get to know you a little bit before I kiss your face.” It seems modern times has reversed the order to “let me kiss your face and if you’re good at it, we’ll do this again and maybe I’ll buy you lava cakes after we get stoned.”
But it seems that the romance from modern relationships is slowly turning into a big black hole of late night booty snaps and swipes to the right. And it has to do with no one wanting to become attached. Feelings aren’t important in modern relationships (relationships include hookups, on-going booty calls, the etcetera). There’s a commitment phobia plaguing those of this generation.
But here’s the thing, buying somebody dinner does not mean marriage. Taking someone to a movie in an actual theatre does not mean picking out rings. And just because she thinks your baby cousin is cute does not mean she wants your baby inside of her. Those are just some thoughts to ponder.
And hey, maybe the dorm room quickie is just your personal style. Maybe sending texts that are borderline suggestive but not actual sexts to that kid in your calc class (who you have never spoken a sober word to) is also more your style. But it couldn’t hurt to try something new. Or more like bringing back old school style.
Hey, it worked for neon and jeggings. It could work for you.