Friends and Lovers

It seems that I can’t turn on the TV or listen in on a private conversation at Tim’s without hearing about how difficult it is to meet someone nice. This has been going on for quite some time now, hence the proliferation of dating sites on the internet and the many ads on my TV. Young people that I know have found their significant others online, so obviously it works.

I was talking to one of the neighbours earlier today, discussing how lucky we were to have grown up when we did. During the course of the conversation we talked about how kids stay at home longer than our generation did. He has a daughter that is still at home and is twenty eight and a son who is twenty four. The son is moving out next month, but the daughter is content to live with mom and dad.

The three big things on my mind when I was in my last year of high school was could a miracle happen and give me passing grades; how I could find a new girlfriend since the last one dumped me; and when is the earliest possible date that I could get my own place. I don’t think I was alone in that wish. Well, most people weren’t hoping for divine intervention during exams and most didn’t recently get dumped, but the moving out thing was kind of universal. Most of us were out ASAP, with some hand-me-down dishes, towels and furniture picked up on garbage day. We didn’t need much and didn’t have much, but we were very happy. Besides, there was always a place at mom and dad’s supper table.

During our discussion, neither of us remembered it being difficult meeting girls. Finding a girl dumb enough to like us was another matter, but meeting them was on the whole pretty easy. I suppose it was partly due to the fact we would hang out with large groups of friends. There were many smaller groups that would intersect and at a party or some kind of outing it was possible to meet Miss Right. We came to the conclusion that the groups of friends have shrunk and people keep more to themselves. It is tough to meet anyone unless you are out there, but there has to be a “there”.

For a connected generation this generation seems to be disconnected from real life. Times are much different and to tell you the truth, I wouldn’t like to be growing up now and I worry about the grandkids and how they will manoeuvre their way thru life. I wish them well, and I will be there with useless relationship advice that hasn’t been effective for forty years. Any relationship advice from me was pretty much useless at the time. I suspect that boys and girls will find a way to get together no matter what impediments are put in front of them.