Romeo and Juliet probably would not have been the famous star-crossed lovers had they met at a bar instead of a balcony. We all remember the duo that defined infatuation, Juliet up on her pedestal and Romeo down on one knee. Though I hate to be the bearer of bad news, the times have changed since the days of poetic love letters and walking a girl to the front door.

Despite what Taylor Swift might sing.

Let’s not be blinded by St. Valentine himself. A few secret admirers are sprouting up these days and chocolates may end up in my mailbox on the 14^th of February, but I want to focus on the other 364 calendar days. Where did dinner at a nice restaurant go? Why are guys no longer lending a sweater when my arms get chilly? How come the term “first date” is becoming just as out-of-date as the Spice Girls’ famous “girl power” slogan?

Let’s face it: Chivalry is dead on college campuses. Feel free to send flowers because a guy is not about to.  The love letters that used to bear hearts and souls have been replaced by 140 character text messages. That first date is more likely to involve a grungy couch at 2a.m., not a romantically lit table for two. Gone are the days of sweaty palms and Cupid’s arrows. These days college courtship revolves around Facebook “pokes” and the highly anticipated changing of the status from “single” to “in a relationship”.

I hear tales all the time from my parents and extended family that involve sweet little love stories laced with flowers left on the doorstep and first dates where a guy actually met the parents. And he picked the girl up. And he actually took her somewhere that didn’t include Solo cups and a $5 cover charge.

Crazy, I know. Read More »

WTF does that mean?

Like any CollegeCandy girl, I am never far away from my cell phone. And if I’m not on my phone, I’m on my computer. And sometimes I’m on both at the same time. While watching TV. I’m a technology addict, but who isn’t? Cell phones, wireless Internet and text messaging have made our lives so much easier to live.

Except, of course, when it comes to dating.

Back in the olden days, like 1990, guys had to actually call you to ask you out. And it’s not like they could just call your cell and leave a VM; they would actually have to call a land line and possibly brave talking to a roommate or parent just to get to you. (Oh the horror!) Courting girls took a lot of work and if a guy was willing to go to such great lengths to get in touch with a girl, it was pretty easy to see he was into her. But not anymore. It seems like a distant concept to us, but the constant communication available because of the wonders of modern technology has further complicated what was already a confusing world of dating. Read More »

Remember back when your parents met? How did your parents meet, anyway? Mine worked at the same ad agency and had a number of mutual friends. They courted the good old-fashioned way, with phone calls and dinner dates.

Wait a second, though—isn’t that still the way people do it?

What with your iPod in your left hand, your BlackBerry in your right hand, your laptop spread out in front of you, and your cell phone plastered to your ear, it seems a little weird to imagine dating without the technology of today.

But when you think about it, the dating of today is really just the same as the dating of pre-technology. Maybe it’s just because I never have the latest gadgets and I try to avoid logging into my Facebook account whenever possible, but I really don’t think it’s necessary to electronically “poke” my love interest or text “OMG U=SO GR8 LAST NITE!” to my boyfriend’s cell phone. Call me old-fashioned, but I actually find it annoying when my relationship becomes entangled with technology.

There have to be other people out there who feel that way. I mean, yeah, it can be nice to stalk your crush in a nonthreatening way by reading up on the interests they list in an online profile—but wouldn’t it be better to, say, ask that person out for coffee and chat about hobbies over a caramel latté, face to face? Or is that just too much to ask? Read More »