Let’s see. What can
I say about relationships or dating that has not been said a hundred times
before? There is, after all, nothing new under the sun; though every generation
feels as if their experiences are unique. I know that the age of the internet
and online dating may make it seem like the relationship troubles we encounter
now are novel, but in reality they are not.
For example, how we
first meet. We like to think that historically everyone met by chance. That
there was just some common marketplace where you met your potential mate and
fell in love. That is just not so. Much like today, many couples are introduced
to one another by common friends. Whether the introduction or even friendship
occurs online of offline is of little consequence, the result is still the
same. Two people who would have otherwise remained strangers get to meet and
possibly fall in love.
Another way that
people used to get matched with potential partners is through their family.
Groups of culturally similar or economically similar families would often set
up marriages for their children long before they came of age. Even today some
cultures still practice this tradition. Thankfully, most of us do not live in
those cultures, but it bears thinking about. How would you like to be matched
online based on your family and not on your own predilections? Thankfully today
we have a different way of dealing with meeting potential romantic partners.
Another aspect of
the internet age that we think is unique is corresponding before a physical
meeting. Whether exchanging emails, text messages, phone calls, or Facebook
communication, we like to think we are the first generation to date this way.
In truth, many times through history people have written to one another and
agreed to marry before ever even meeting each other in person. Did you ever
hear of mail order brides? The same general idea applies here. The only
difference is that our communication avenues are much more widely varied then a
simple letter exchange.
Long distance
relationships are nothing new to this generation either. Your parents or
grandparents can probably tell you about the hardship of being separated from
their loved ones because of war or employment difficulties. During the Great
Depression, many men went off to seek ways to keep their families alive, often
with little means of communication with their spouses or romantic partners. I
can only imagine how difficult that would be. Those soldiers going off the
World War II, Korea , or Vietnam also faced extreme difficulties
with remaining close to their loved ones. If you think about it, we have it
much better today. With Skype and other face to face communication
technologies, we can actually see our loved ones even when they are far away.
That was something that our predecessors could have only dreamed of.
Besides just meeting
one another via the internet, there is also the whole dating process. Just
think what our lives would be like without apps to tell us where to eat, when
the movie started, or where the band is playing. It would be very different,
right? Well, maybe not. Remember that before all the fancy doodads and mobile
phones people still managed to keep track of pesky details like those. They
used a phone book and called the theatre. Or, before that, they paid attention
to the advertisements and knew with regularity when things were going to occur.
After all, having a set time for a band to play is not rocket science.
When you really
think about it, relationships have not changed that much due to technology. We
still do the same things, go to similar places, and meet in the same ways. All
that has changed is that it is faster and easier to get a hold of one another
now. Maybe we should start worrying more about our privacy and less about how
to stay connected!
Author Bio
Nancy Parker was a
professional nanny and she loves to write about wide range of subjects like
health, Parenting, Child Care, Babysitting, nanny, www.enannysource.com/ etc. You can
reach her @ nancy.parker015@gmail.com
1 comment:
Very good blog article. I’ll be coming back for more.. Christian singles dating
Post a Comment