By Nomali Cele
It’s the day after Valentine’s Day, which means it’s probably the safest time to talk about the occasion of Valentine’s and the act dating overall. If you are a romantic, the 15th of February is the day when you are either very satisfied about the state of your love life or you are disappointed but you’re still very hopeful – being hopeful comes with the title of “romantic.”
What better way is there to think about dating than to sprinkle a bit of nostalgia on the subject? Let’s take a look back a simpler time with these old-school dates. So, what becomes quite clear from the onset is that old-school dates were all about simplicity. It was all about the experience. Maybe it’s because you were younger and without much money to spend but old-school dates didn’t come with a price tag as heavy as current dating carries. In fact, sometimes the only thing that made it a “date” was that you were with your sweetheart.
A Taxonomy of simple, old-school dates
The classic biscuits and cooldrink
A lot of planning went into this date. You probably changed the venue a number of times because one of you thought your parents would be out freeing up the yard but they ended up changing their plans, cancelling your date. But, eventually, stars would align and you would have your alone time with a refreshing beverage.
A stroll through town
We’ve all seen them, the couples holding hands as they walk, laughing and always seeming a comfortable surface away from a cuddle. The reason town, or if you were in Johannesburg, Carlton Centre to be specific, was the perfect spot for a hand-holding date is that the likelihood of running into people you know was slim. Unlike trying to hold hands a street away from your house where a neighbour would tell someone at church who would tell your mother about your shenanigans. The pie and groovy for lunch were a bonus.
An afternoon at Lovers’ Park
At present, “Lovers’Park” isn’t a real place so here I’m referring to all the generic parks of all time. All this old-school date required was a healthy patch of grass, a tree with generous shade, a secluded part of the park and you and your love. Hours would speed by.
Lunch by the steps
Wasn’t it common to see that one couple sitting on that one staircase at least twice a week in high school? I know at mine it was. They would always be looking serious and deep in conversation and, although they each ate with their respective friends before spending the rest of lunch relationshiping, they could sometimes be seen eating together.
Ice cream dates
Before the weird “men shouldn’t lick ice cream cones in public” unwritten, fragile masculinity rule, there were ice cream dates. Everything from a plain soft serve cone to a giant sundae at Milky Lane made for a magical old-school date. The added bonus of an ice cream date was that these venues tended to be in town as well, which means you could get a stroll thrown in there for good measure.
Car trips
The car trip part of the old-school date came at a later time in life. Even if you didn’t drive, let alone have a car, there was a likelihood that one of your friends had access to one. So the car trip dates were always a group date affair that often ended at Lovers’ Park.
What old-school date was your favourite in your day? Tweet @KayaFM95dot9 with the hashtag #FunnySideOfLove
