Remember in elementary school when we thought boys had cooties, kissing was gross and “talking” was just an innocent conversation between two people? Now, there is social media, dating apps and trying to understand the difference between dating and talking. Regardless of the complications, dating is hard no matter the age. It is something we all have to do if we want a chance at finding love.
Elementary School
PSA: this is what dating in elementary school was like in the early 2000s. I have no idea what it is like now nor do I want to know.
When a boy made fun of you that automatically meant he liked you. (This should not be a thing nowadays, but it was back then). You wanted him to be your boyfriend because he shared his Goldfish with you during lunch.
The most affection you showed was sitting next to each other and, maybe if you were both feeling it, you guys would hug. All of your friends were jealous because they didn’t have boyfriends. (This still happens in college.)
He didn’t actually ask you out. He called on you to read to the class and that meant you were dating. If he did formally ask you out it was most definitely through AIM or passing notes during class.
You barely talked to him during school, but rushed home to talk to him all night on AIM. Even though you rarely saw him outside of school and only talked to him for 10 minutes during recess, you thought he would be your husband by the time you were 22. If you saw him talking or standing behind another girl in the lunch line, you thought he was “cheating” on you. When you guys broke up, you “accidentally” aimed for his head in dodge ball.
The hardest part about dating in elementary school didn’t exist. Cellphones were rare, social media was a myth and boys had cooties so you never wanted to kiss them. #LiterallyNoStringsAttached
College
College dating nowadays has become hookup culture. There’s nothing wrong with that, it just complicates things.
But if you do date someone, of course you hope he is the one and that you two will be #CollegeSweethearts. In all honesty, though, you probably met him at a sweaty frat house or in class. When you meet him, you start “talking” – no one really knows what this means anymore. Hopefully that “talking” turns into dating, but let’s be honest; that’s rare in college. You could also have meet him through dating apps AKA Tinder, Bumble, Grinder, etc. However you two came to be, all of your friends are jealous because you have a boyfriend and they have “that guy they met on Tinder but wants to be their boyfriend but only texts twice a week and hooks up with on the weekends.” #CollegeRomance
If you are lucky enough to date someone but don’t have a car, you have dates at the dining hall or at Fraternity parties. When you date someone who does have a car, he can drive you to class and be the DD for ladies’ night.
Dating in college is all about time management because you don’t want to fail a class or lose your close friends over a guy. Social media is a major factor in dating in college because you guys are supposed to be “talking”, but you can see he was hanging out with another girl according to his SnapStory. It gets confusing because you always see when he posts a picture with a different girl on Instagram and then tweets about how he wants a committed relationship when you’re sitting there the whole time like “Hi, remember me?”
Without a doubt, the hardest part about dating someone both in elementary school and in college is when you break up, you’ll see the other person everywhere because that is the universe’s way of torturing you.