imkittymyers at hotmail dot com
Wednesday, August 10, 2005
CLUELESS IN NY
I don’t know if it’s this sauna of a summer I’m forced to endure, sans AC!, or what, but lately I’ve been noticing more than just a few pieces on dating. Not that I’m in the market, mind you. I can’t imagine what dating must be like these days. The last date I went on was 1968, when I was 18, at a time when society’s entire moral equilibrium was in turmoil. Three months later I was married. My ideas of dating are dated. I'm a writer and I'm clueless on the subject.
I related to a particularly pointed comment in the movie Peggy Sue Got Married when the trampy Delores Dodge is interviewing the married squares, Arthur and Maddy Nagle, at their 25th high school reunion. When they say how long they’ve been married, Delores asks something like, How does it feel to have missed the entire sexual revolution?
Or how about Sleepless In Seattle when Rob Reiner (Jay) is trying to bring Tom Hanks (Sam) up to speed on dating in the 90s?
Sam Baldwin: What is "tiramisu"?
Jay: You'll find out.
Sam Baldwin: Well, what is it?
Jay: You'll see!
Sam Baldwin: Some woman is gonna want me to do it to her and I'm not gonna know what it is!
In 1968 we had rubbers, not condoms, which we couldn’t even whisper without giggling uncontrollably. And you had to ask for them since they were kept behind the drugstore counter. God help the tongue-tied guy who was waited on by a female clerk! Safe sex meant not getting pregnant, like Rizzo thought she might have been in Grease.
Marty: What's with you tonight?
Rizzo: I feel like a defective typewriter.
Marty: Huh?
Rizzo: I skipped a period.
Marty: Think you're P.G.?
Twenty years ago, safe sex took on a whole new meaning. We had to learn how to say condoms, even my mother. Dating these days means at some point getting personal before you get up-close.
Dropping the H Bomb
“I love you. Oh, and I’ve got an STD.”
All these articles and I’m still wondering what dating is like these days. Frankly, it sounds goddamned scary! Does Bridget [Jones] still speak for single women? And what about NICE GUYS AND BITCHY WOMEN ?
Related topic: Forget that BlogHo is married when you read his hilarious (with *language*) post on his It's better to be skinny than rich.
Fill me in here folks! I’m clueless and need help; it’s research for my writing. What is dating like these days?
Mrs Media Matters highly recommends online dating. As long as you follow some simple rules…
*