PAS7 The Dining Commons, Binge-Watching, and Cheap Dates

Dating in college. Romance in the college years is an interesting beast. Colleges are often bashed as having a “hook-up culture”, implying that courtship and romance are a thing of the past, scarce to be found on a modern day campus. However, one merely needs to observe the number of couples holding hands, cuddling on benches, or doing other obviously “coupley” activities to realize that dating is all but dead. Despite what people say, it is my experience and observation that college students are extremely active in the dating scene… perhaps more active that most any other age group. In this post, I intend to examine some amusing trends I have observed in my freshman peers’ dating habits.

The dining commons. One might wonder, what does this have to do with dating? As a freshman, EVERYTHING. Nothing is more chivalrous and romantic than paying for your date’s four dollar buffet entrance fee, using your ID card meal plan paid for by your parents. If I was a female, I’m sure this gesture would win me over in an instant. In all seriousness, I do find it interesting how many couples are always present in the dining commons. The irony of spending parents money on cheap food aside, being able to go to lunch/dinner many nights a week with one’s significant other does actually sound pretty nice. Maybe the food is not the best, but few are the students in college who can afford to wine and dine their romantic interest all the time. On the issue of dining as a couple in the dining commons, I must conclude that I am torn. I would certainly prefer to be able to go somewhere a little more classy, but I have also never before been in a position to be able to see a girlfriend close to every day for dinner (this would have seemed quite a strange idea in high school). In the end, I suppose spending time together wins out over the pitiful image of going on a date to a university dining commons.

In my title, I also mention binge-watching, referring to the practice of streaming many episodes of a TV series all in a row. Again, one may wonder what this has to do with college dating. My answer is that I hypothesize this is a common date activity for poor college students who want to spend time together. For underclassman students without access to a vehicle, the number of date activities within a walking distance can be limited by money, creativity, and interest. Binge-watching television shows seems a natural alternative. Like with the idea of going to dinner at the dining commons, I find myself with mixed feelings about the idea of watching television as a date. On the surface, it seems a somewhat strange way to spend time with another person. Yet, I also expect it is a highly effective way to create a shared experience between two people. Who knows how many inside jokes will be formed, ideas and laughter shared during the course of watching a TV series. In addition, it is a good excuse to spend some time together in someone’s room, which few college student’s likely have objection to.

College is a time for creativity. The dating scene is not dead, although it may not exactly resemble that found in any other environment. Given the limited resources and time available to college students, they are not doing a bad job of finding ways to spend time together by making normal routine behaviors into romantic opportunities.