Iyow - in your own words

Have you experienced the thrill and agony of a first date recently? If not, you may be unaware that suddenly it has become common practice to ask someone out via text message. To clarify, I am not talking about high school students, but men and women in their 20s and 30s. We’re talking about first dates, not established couples deciding to meet up at their favorite Thai place after work. The would-be suitors most likely used “primitive” telephone dating rituals in their early days on the prowl – but have since abandoned this labor-intensive effort for the detached and impersonal texting future.

U want to go out w/ me 2night? ;-)

Now just when did this become acceptable? I’m assuming that by asking someone to dinner that your intention, at the very least, is to get to know them a little better (and let’s be honest here, the hope for naked activity). But with all those high hopes it seems that it has become too much work to actually make a phone call to invite the object of your slight affection. It’s a dismal sign of the state of dating today. We are all so overburdened with demands on our time and so technology-dependant that courtship, as well as what – only three years ago – were considered basic good manners, has evaporated. If she doesn’t answer that text—who cares?! It’s easy to forget you ever sent it.

Dating has become a matter of scheduling an appointment. Would you send a potentially lucrative client a text message to set up a time to meet? Probably not. The possible reward is too great, so you make the extra effort to give them a ring. Don’t your potential dates deserve some of that time investment? Or has dating declined to a series of miniature interviews with sexual encounters scheduled at a convenient time and location? Just think of how original and retro-cool you’ll be when you pick up that strange machine tethered to the wall of your home, take a deep breath, and have a conversation in “real-time”. I dare you.