I have a confession to make. I think I missed High School Dating 101. 
    Or maybe I just forgot to pick up the updated manual. I thought wearing Toms and listening to Taylor Swift would help, but I still can’t decipher this particular code of teenage life. 
    I frequently find myself questioning modern day attempts at boy-girl interactions, and it’s led me to feel very left out during recent gossip sessions. 
    Psst. So I saw you and Johnny the other day; what’s going on there? 
    You guys are so totally going out, right? 
    Well, we’re just “talking.” 
    
    Right. Well, can I be written into this hypothetical, yet very realistic, scenario? 
    
    Excuse me, yes you, with the iPhone 23G, what does this mean? I need to know if the kid (whom I briefly spoke to in my algebra class) and I are about to “go out” too. 
    In order to save myself from suddenly acquiring a surplus of boyfriends, I decided to do a little research. 
    My findings? 
    After familiarizing myself with the latest jargon, I gained some insight that was met with even greater misunderstanding. 
    “Talking” may refer to the pre-dating phase in a relationship, but there is not a lot of direct communication involved. 
    Text messages and Facebook chat are staples in this form of apparent affection and not much else. 
    So it seems that things are simply different nowadays. But from where I’m sitting, this just creates ambiguity. How do you actually get to know someone through a few lines appearing on a cell phone? And how do you actually know if you like that person? 
    Can anyone relate to this onslaught of confusion? 
    Relationships are already complicated at their most basic form, and it seems that the addition of complex technology is not exactly smoothing things out.
    Can you remember a time when you didn’t have to make your latest breakup “Facebook official?” 
    As if the pain of breaking up wasn’t enough, now you get to showcase it for all your “friends” as an oh-so subtle broken heart appears next your name on their news feed.     
    Talk about ouch. 
    So it seems that all of the typical characteristics of dating have become obsolete. 
    I’ve encountered fully committed couples who spend more time texting each other than they actually spend together. 
    I suppose nowadays that a exchanging a few LOL’s or JK’s equates to the “L” word.
From Skype dates to Facebook, the concept of dinner and a movie, or any face-to-face encounter for that matter, is quickly becoming a far way image in today’s high school hallways. 
    And I must admit, I’m not about to favorably tweet about it. 
    In fact, this subculture of technology-driven relationships is causing me and my grandma to scratch our heads. 
    Sure, I may be old fashioned. 
    And yes, after conforming to many aspects of my generation, I’ve found YouTube to be very efficient, however there is just something about the old days I can’t let remain in the past. 
    Aside from my campaign to reinstate the popularity of Casablanca or the waltz, I have one proposition: can we bring back old-fashioned courting? 
    Oh, you remember. 
    Guy sees girl at sock-hop. Girl twists hair around her finger. Her eyes flutter as they dance to “The Way You Look Tonight,” and he combs his hair. 
    After he opens a few doors for her and throws rocks at her window, they’re ready for meeting the parents, and for having milkshakes at Shakey’s. 
    While I realize this may be a stretch, I do have a theory as to why that is. 
    From what I’ve gathered, I suppose I’m placing too much responsibility on the young people of my generation, myself included. 
    You heard me, guys who ask respectable girls to prom via text message, and then expect it to be taken seriously as well as the girls who accept that scenario. Instead of making a proper attempt at wooing, these guys resort to whatever source of technology is at their fingertips. 
    Maybe I’ve just had a few too many doors slammed in my face as a suitable fellow walks right by, distracted by a game of Angry Birds. 
    Or perhaps I should just find a guy who would watch I Love Lucy with me.