When people say the word dating I think of; candlelit dinners in fancy restaurants or a romantic comedy in the cinema or even going bowling. I’d class those three events as possible date locations. Whatever it is the couple plan on doing as their date, I always believe a date involves you leaving your house.
The problem with the world we live in today, everything is so convenient. Whether it be a pizza from Domino’s or a book from Amazon, you can get it by just tapping your phone screen. And those candlelit dinners have turned into “Netflix and chilling” at someone’s house whilst ordering pizza.
Whilst some people would class that as a date, I wouldn’t. I always feel a date is something you do together with your partner that you can’t do by yourself, for example, bowling. However, watching Netflix half naked whilst eating pizza, I can do by myself.
To call this dating would insult previous generations’ version of dating. There was so much more precision and care put into dating beforehand. This was normal because there was so much more pressure to find Mr or Mrs Right, as divorce was highly frowned upon.
In all honesty, if someone’s idea of the first date was to invite me to their bedroom to watch Netflix, I would run. It shows that they only care about one thing if the first thought that goes through their mind is trying to get me into their bedroom.
This dating is so laid back, so teenagers and young adults will have the mindset that they are dating just to pass the time; for shits and giggles. When you should always think about whether there would be a future with the person you are dating. At the end of the day, we all have to settle down at some point.
Another thing that upsets me quite a bit is that teenagers are afraid of committing to a long-term relationship, yet they will commit to having sex with anyone who is up for it. I’d rather grow closer and more intimate with one person and have sex with them a bunch of times, than having sex with a bunch of different people. Sex isn’t a big deal and I’m not saying it’s the be all and end all. But I still wouldn’t want to have it with just anyone.
I did talk in a previous blog post about our generation being more narcissistic than previous generations. The problem is we are more egotistical and this is affecting our way of dating. Everyone seems to think they are the best causing them to wait till they find someone as perfect as them. We can all be arseholes sometimes.
I’ve even seen on social media before that people have agreed to go on a date with someone just for the free food and not the companionship. Yeah, it’s funny to laugh at, but if I was that guy I would be mad. You’ve wasted his time and money when he could have been on a date with someone who actually cared.
This change doesn’t bother me, as I know if I wanted a proper date all I would have to do is ask. It just upsets me that people are having sex with people they probably don’t even know. Besides discussing what to put on Netflix, they haven’t spoken two words.
Bring back the butterflies, cute dresses, and candlelit dinners.

Grace Hemphill x