Man Theory – Dating in the Information Age, Part I.
The night would be remembered forever…
The night started off like many Saturday nights in this town. A neighboring group of sorority sisters would come over and drink with us. Typically this meant two things, a) we would make the jungle juice and b) they would drink it. Call it a symbiotic relationship – the attractive girls already at the location made the party look good and we would provide the entertainment.
Unlike Europeans, Americans overwhelmingly need to relax before they can start dancing. This takes the form of social drinking and then the music starts playing and people make their way to the dance floor. College is no different. The women would come over and play drinking games with the residents before the DJ would start playing. I had done my part and had enough liquid courage in my system to make me invincible and now I was determined to find a suitable dance partner. That’s when I saw her.
She was dressed like cat woman.
At least that’s what I was thinking at the time. It’s not often that I remember what a woman was wearing when I first saw them, but she stood out somehow amidst the sea of similarly dressed women that would enter the house by the dozens. A sleek, all black, tight-fitting top and tight black dress pants. She looked like Kate Beckingsale in a movie that had yet to come out yet – Underworld. Perfect. Just my type.
I did what any normal, horny, college guy would do and a skill I had perfected at countless fraternity parties and bars – the sneak attack booty approach. This approach involves no skill at all but seems like its magic when it happens. She sees you dancing before her from a few paces away and you disappear instantly. When you reappear, you are pressed up behind her – crotch on the booty. Her friends standing opposite of her, can see you will give her the secret signal and look of approval. Lucky for me this time, I got the approval.
We danced for hours it seemed. I took bathroom breaks and got congratulated for a job well done by the other brothers in the house when I walked off the dance floor. “Dude, she’s hot man” was the most common response. When I got back to the dance floor, I would see her there, waiting for me to return. I felt as if I had scored the game winning touchdown and now had the hot cheerleader as reward.
When things started to wrap up, it was clear she was from out of town and her friends wouldn’t leave without her. While they waited by the doorway, I gathered up the courage to finally ask the question I had been deliberating to myself all night..
“Do you want to be buddies on AIM?”
She laughed for what seems like 10 minutes then turned around and walked out of the house. I’d never see her again.
It seemed like a good idea at the time.
Dating in the Information Age has changed the way we pursue each other. With more resources at our disposal, we now have in-your-face technology that provides constant access to you – from e-mail to chat, from text to Blackberry Messenger, and more recently with Facebook and Twitter. Chances are, if you have these things, you expect people to use them to contact you. And that’s exactly what has happened.
For better, or worse.
Stay Tuned for Part II coming soon!
I remember “Can I get your beeper number? If you see 0069, that’s me.”
That’s pretty funny. I wish I was old enough to have used that one!