Our generation is absolutely blind when it comes to the concept of dating. We consider it a normal thing for a relationship to form over social media, honestly how many of us have started talking to a person we didn’t even know through social media? I am just as guilty as anybody when it comes to this. We are some of the most social media dependent people there have ever been.

I truly feel that we have lost sight as to how to truly form a stable relationship with each other. There is honestly no telling how many people go out on a date with people that they have never even met in real life but only through social media. I truly don’t want a relationship like that. I want to go on a date with a boy that I have gotten to know in everyday life. I don’t want a guy to just comment with some emoji on my latest Instagram photo, I want a guy to give me a sincere compliment in person. People can say whatever they want to when they are just typing it, when a person says something in person you are able to see how they are truly feeling and see the look in their eyes when they say it.

I recently went on a date where the guy actually opened my car door, I was truly shocked when he walked around to my side of the car. I mean I looked at this boy like he had lost his mind. 50 years ago it would have been a shock for the guy to NOT open the girl’s door, but yet now we are completely stunned when they do. There are still guys out there that will open your door and walk you to your front door, they have just become extremely hard to find.

My dad is the definition of a true southern man, he believes that the guy should pick up the girl, open the door for her, and should always walk to the door and shake her dads hand before they go out. And these are the rules I have been raised with, which I don’t think they are asking too much at all.

One time I had a guy come pick me up but he wouldn’t get out of his car and walk to the door. He honked the horn when he got there. Biggest mistake that boy ever made. My dad would not even let me walk outside until the boy came to the door and shook his hand. The guy apparently got annoyed that I didn’t come outside upon the honk of his car, so he decided to walk to the door; lets just say that my dad was not the friendliest. I can assure you all, that there was not a second date. I am very thankful though that I did end up going out on a date with the guy, simply because he taught me very quickly exactly what not to look for in a guy.

I am very old fashioned, simply by how I have been raised. We live in a world filled with feminist and such, I however am probably the farthest thing from a feminist (and I have nothing against them, this is simply how I believe I want to be and how I want to be treated). I do believe that women should cook dinner for their husbands, wash their clothes, iron their clothes, clean house, etc; this is not me saying that the man can’t help out on occasion. But I see it as a 50-50 deal; the man also has roles that I believe should be expected of him. Things like mowing the grass, working in the yard, fixing things around the house, etc. (Catch my drift?) Anyhow this is how I one day want my marriage to be like. But I feel like this will only happen if people learn how to get back to the basics of dating.

I am 19 years old and I already have a list a mile long of things I know to avoid in guys. It shouldn’t have to be so hard to simply get respect, which is basically what the basics of dating imply.

In  my opinion there should be more phone calls rather than texts, more actual dates rather than face-times, more door opening instead of horn honking. These are just a few of the things that I believe should just be expected when you are dating someone. I feel like if we could all just get back to the basics, we would have more successful relationships.