Last year, I went on my first date. It was the most exciting day. I spent so much of the afternoon texting friends asking for opinions on what outfit to wear and how to do my hair and makeup. We went to his country club in St. Petersburg, Florida because he loved their sushi chef and knew my obsession with sushi. The moment I got out of my car at the valet, he parked his motorcycle and walked towards me, I think I almost passed out in that moment. He later told me that he found me stunning and intimidating and that was the most amazing moment. It astonishes me when I asked my friends if they’ve ever been on a date and about nine out of ten have not.
The mobile app Tinder has become huge and continually growing community with millions of downloads and daily users. It’s extremely easy to hear about the vast hype and quickly sign up. While swiping left and right, you may encounter some unwanted vulgar attention, good conversation, or even the dreaded invitation to hang out. It’s very clear that we live in a hookup culture. Tinder as well as ‘Netflix and chill’ have killed the first date and relationships. Being asked to hangout seems to be a trap into casual dating, you’re not allowed to DTR (define the relationship), if you ask questions or want something more some millennial men will claim that it’s just casual and refuse to recognize that what you’re doing is dating.
Since my first date, I have only been on one with one other guy and it was equally fun and amazing but unfortunately after that it’s only been a ‘Hey we should hang sometime!’ and my mental answer is always no, we should not. If you are interested in a girl, you should take the extra moment to change your weak invitation to something like ‘I would love to take you to dinner’ or "Are you free to grab a coffee before/after class sometime this week?".
I’ve completed my first week of college at Rochester College and seen some of the Christian men at this school and the 60 pecent statistical chance that I’ll meet my future husband on this campus doesn’t scare me too much. I will continue to hope that the first date comes back to life.
