Uptown Affairs is a column for The Tulane Hullabaloo, addressing sex, hookup culture and all things dating. If you are a Tulane student, you can submit an anonymous story to be featured here.
There’s something about a meet-cute that is so irresistible to me. Maybe it is innate, or maybe it is the result of consuming 90s-era rom-coms like they are going out of style. Nonetheless, I experienced one recently, and it made me wonder why old-fashioned dating is no longer in vogue.
Two hours into the flight, he outstretched his hand across the aisle of the Boeing 737 and said, “I’m so sorry to interrupt whatever you’re working on, but I need to know your name.” Lucky for him, I had forgotten to charge my AirPods and was struggling to finish an essay on the choppy Wi-Fi. I looked up from my laptop, perplexed and turned to face him from my aisle seat. I quickly surveyed him from head to toe — Chuck Taylor sneakers, a nice outfit and a cute smile. We got to talking.
That one line was simple enough to hook my attention. Chatting with a cute stranger for a bout of small talk is one thing. Yet, an hour of conversation on an airplane is a different story — especially when you start to notice nearby passengers tuning into the first-date unraveling before them.
Airplane Guy asked me to grab a drink with him when we got off the plane, and I agreed. He admitted how nervous he was and how he had spent the first two hours of the flight trying to catch my eye. He was just passing through town.
He was the wrong age, living in the wrong state and working the wrong job for anything serious to come of it. The logistics were stacked against us. Still, Airplane Guy was charming, confident and willing to embarrass himself. If I had seen him on a dating app, I likely would not have given him a chance. With his identity laid out before me like a spreadsheet, I would have instantly swiped left because it wasn’t practical. It made me question: Why would I say yes to someone in person who I would write off online? Was I being too picky?
Maybe, but maybe not. The more I learned about him, the clearer it became that Airplane Guy and I were not meant to be. However, our initial interaction stuck with me; his confidence was not just attractive but impressive.
It reminded me of stories from my parents’ generation, where two strangers meet and fall in love on an airplane, a couple crafted by fate. It made me wonder, when was the last time I heard someone being asked out not only sober, but in a quiet and highly public setting, with no digital buffer to hide behind?
Consider this my official plea to bring bravery back.
A tremendous amount of things have changed culturally and politically since the 90s, when meet-cutes dominated the media, and yet, the appeal of old-fashioned dating has not waned. The rates of it most definitely have, though. Are people happier? I am not so sure.
According to The Atlantic, fewer young people are in romantic relationships than ever before. The Economist echoed this, sharing the decline of dating app engagement in the past few years.
Our romantic recession is met with a striking observation from The Kinsey Institute at Indiana University: Gen Z’s kink is commitment. According to the researchers, we are fascinated by and eager to explore monogamy because it feels so foreign. Hookup culture is our generation’s default sexual culture, but maybe it doesn’t have to be.
If my interaction with Airplane Guy resonated with you, consider giving old-fashioned dating a try. The hardest part will always be securing the first date. If delivered with confidence, the response to a tasteful pick-up line might just surprise you.