What's it like to be in an actual relationship? And no, not a relationship filled with discreet sexts, dehumanized text messages, and secret, midnight rendezvous.
Seriously, since when has a "what you up to" text at two-in-the-morning, followed by an exit from your bedroom at dawn, become the new fad? Please enlighten me with an answer, considering every relationship I've undergone has been a series of transient hook-ups I've considered to be more romantic than casual. Yet, each one has bitten me in the ass and has come full circle.
Luckily, it seems I'm not the only millennial who's in the midst of a quarter love-life crisis.
Our generation today lives through depersonalized communication. We detect another's emotions through emojis and the speed it takes to answer a sole text message. We no longer talk face-to-face. Rather, we carefully craft online facades and interact with one another through Snapchat, Facebook, and Instagram/Twitter DM's. Not to mention online dating apps such as Tinder and Ok Cupid.
Don't get me wrong, I'm not one to desire an upfront conversation with a drunk who's been leering me from across the bar. I do, however, miss the sincerity of being asked out in person and the quirky nervousness it brings. Wouldn't you rather see a guy/girls endearing and attractive flaws in person as they ask you to dinner, rather than an instantaneous text message to hang out and stay the night in their dorm room/house/apartment?
Who knows, maybe romantic comedy movies set my expectations exceptionally high. But why can't it be like that? Where a boy meets a girl somewhere that is not a club, party, or online. He asks her out in some cute gesture way (in person) and not a booty call to come over after dark. He actually leaves his car to ring the door bell, instead of a text message that says "I'm outside." I guess men this generation seem to associate romance with sappy love and clinginess, and being too forward emasculates them.
Think about it. If a guy spontaneously asked you to a nice dinner one night and shows up at your front door step, would it feel a bit unexpected? I for one would probably have heart palpitations and text him to walk back to his car.
It's unfortunate that romance is draining out, because women are so inclined to this version of love, that anything more than what's expected is deemed to be unconventional. It seems people today are so jaded, so lazy, and so scared, that every "relationship" we create isn't really a relationship anymore. And when whatever it is you two called yourselves is over, it leaves you running around with hundreds of unresolved feelings and no real closure. It really is such a shame.
I just hope millennials out there will learn how to keep romance alive, because I for one want to share an attachment with someone the way my parents did with each other.
