Do People Still Date?

Still horrified by a Glamour magazine article I read, which stated that 70% of single women don't know if they've been on a real date in the last year. What?? I'm sorry. What!?!

I'm baffled. How do you not know if you're on a date? Has dating become so lazy that it might be that you're on a date or you might just be hanging out with a bud? There is a difference and it's an important one and leads to far less confusion for both parties.

It got me thinking about my dating life -- and every bit of this was before the Internet was what it is today (I'm old. I'm not that old -- met my spouse when I was 23 and have been with him ever since -- but sometimes like this I feel old LOL ). And I can assure you that every date I had was an honest to God real date.

High School:
-  Hahahaha. I was such the shy mouse back in high school and had a grand total of 3 dates in high school. Two of which were guys I worked with at good ol' Bradlees and one was a set-up for the senior prom. Anyhoo, it was clear each was a date. The first was a date to the County Fair; the second was dinner and a movie (to see "Turner and Hooch". I cried at the end when the dog died -- sorry for the decades-old spoiler there ;) -- and my date laughed at that scene. Heeelllll, no to a second date). And the third we won't discuss because it was a sympathy set-up. Ouch.

College:
- Even in college, when I was on a date, I knew. Freshman year, a guy took me out to dinner and a movie (that Meryl Streep one -- "Postcards from the Edge") and then in later college years, I had other dates of dinner and a movie; or bowling; or just a movie. But they were all definitive dates. Were there random makeouts at parties and the like? Of course. I'm human. :) But those weren't dates and that was fine and dandy.

Post-college:
- The first guy I dated after college was someone I met out at a club. He came to my house; brought flowers (coral roses, from what I recall) and we went out to dinner and to see an a Capella group perform (and then made out in a park). Absolutely a date. No question. We continued to date for a while and each date was a date. After him, there were a number of first dates and each one was a date (dinner or going out to play pool or going to a movie -- just the two of us). When I met my now-spouse, our first date was to dinner and then to see the movie "Copycat". After that, we did more movies or went to Fanueil Hall to roam around together or rented movies or played pool.

So yeah, I'm baffled. What is going on now that 70% of single women do not know that they've been on a date in the last year? I'd say if you have to ask, then you weren't. But I also know how times have changed (man, I feel the need to yell "Get off my lawn" <-- Old!!) and that texting and setting and Skype and the Internet have all changed the dating game, making meeting someone that much easier and making hooking up other much easier. And honestly, I think it's a shame.

Everyone deserves to be woo'ed and to go out on an actual date. Let's bring back actually dating. No more just meet at a bar/club and have sex. Stop. Actually date someone. Get to know them. It's fun. Seriously.