When it comes to legitimate dating, our generation is kind of screwed up. Instead of “I’ll pick you up at 8 o clock” at walking to the door to pick you up, all you get is a text saying “I’m here”. Instagram likes and Snapchats have become acceptable forms of flirting. Date night has scarily evolved from going out to dinner, and maybe going to mini golf afterwards or anything remotely enjoyable to watching Netflix, and ordering pizza. Honestly, in my opinion it doesn’t seem like anyone is actually putting effort into dating, no one is actually dating anymore. Everyone is either “talking” or “has a thing with someone” or “kind of dating”. Apparently no one wants the commitment of a real relationship, but then they also don’t want to be alone. Guys don’t take the girl they are “talking to” on a date but when he sees that her best friend on Snapchat is a guy, he wants to freak out. As girls, we don’t want to commit to the guy we “have a thing” with, but we get mad when we see that he is liking other girls pictures on Instagram.
I’m not sure when or why we thought that this form of “dating” is acceptable, but it needs to change, and fast. I think we should bring back real, honest to God dating, the “I’ll pick you up at 7 o clock”, and walk to my door to pick me up dating. Instead of sending a Snapchat to the person you’re feeling, try actually asking them out on a real date. I get that it can be scary, but you have to take that risk. It can be really awkward as well but honestly, it is not the most horrible thing in the world. They could say no, and that can suck, but it is not the end of the world. You can at least say that you tried, and at the end of the day, that’s what matters. Now, they also could say yes, and you go out on the date. First dates are supposed to be awkward, and if ultimately it’s just completely unfixable, just know that you did better than most, at least you went out, while some people were still at home snapchatting the person they are “talking to”.
By no means am I saying ask out every single person you think is cute on a date. But, what I am saying is that you have nothing to lose by putting yourself out there. Be spontaneous, this is what your 20’s are for. Who knows? You just might ask that someone out and it could be the start of something new. You never know until you try.