Waiting for love has been deeply entwined in the romance narrative since the beginning of time.
Think about Rapunzel’s castle-bound wait for her handsome prince, or Sam and Annie’s sleepless nights in Seattle. Charles waited 35 years to marry Camilla, Billie Holiday knew that “…one day, he’ll come along, the man I love”, and what about Romeo and Juliet? They waited so long they both DIED.
My point is this: waiting is at the very core of romance. Waiting makes you tougher, and pickier, and wiser. Waiting means ditching the duds and holding out for your handsome prince. Waiting for a new crush to arrive, or an old crush to return, makes falling in love so much more precious. You earned it.
Now, enter the new age of dating apps.
In 2017, we wait for nothing. Everything from buffalo wings to high heels can be delivered to your door in an instant. We don’t wait in lines to pay for our coffee, or hang out at the bus stop in the hope it arrives – nope, we just tap into our smartphone oracle and have the answers in an instant.
Because of this, the concept of waiting has become a bit passe. It’s the analogue to our digital, the hand-powered to our electrical. People who wait for things are either trying to stall on their lunch break, or have a phone with a flat battery.
And this impatience with the ebb and flow of life has sadly come to apply to one of the most ancient waiting games of all: love.
Many years ago, the idea of finding a partner online – for sex, love, children, dinner dates, or otherwise – was still kind of embarrassing. It was the stamping ground of divorced parents, lonely farmers, and desperate inner-city singles who couldn’t handle one more speed dating night at the local town hall.