I was in junior secondary school when I received it. I walked into my class after lunch break hour and went to my seat like all the other students. Nothing prepared me for the ”guest” that would be underneath my notebooks, right there in my locker.
Dipping my hands into my locker to bring out my basic science notes, I saw a white folded piece of paper fall onto my laps. I was surprised as that was not there earlier. Curiosity egged me on and I found myself opening the neatly folded piece of paper and here were its contents…
”Baby, ever since you joined our class,I have not been myself. You make my heart race. You are the sugar in my tea and the only cockroach in my cupboard. You are the flower in my garden and the mango on my mango tree. I want to be your boyfriend. Please say that you will be my girlfriend too. Hoping to hear a yes.”
Love
From Christopher.
After reading the words about two times, time seemed to slow down. I began blushing and smiling like a goat in heat all day. Do you blame me ? That was my very first love letter amongst many. Back then, that was a trend. A guy writes and passes on his feelings on paper to his beloved and she does the same, stating if she was interested or not.
Back then, I could remember the way some girls and boys in a relationship longed to receive notes or love letters from their partners. Couples who were in long distance relationships were always expectant to receive word from their wife or husbands. The post office was quite busy those days with letters to send and receive.
Love struck was a common term used on lovers then as you'd see some girls and guys sleeping with a newly read letter beside their pillow. Back then, dating was done this way and everybody knew whom they wanted to date.
Another trend was sending middle men to go and physically toast (woo) a girl for another person. Let's say guy Z liked a girl P, he won't go by himself but send his best buddy to help him go and woo girl P and then he would give feedback to the guy who sent him to woo.
Looking at the way technological advancement has increased in this present era with the way social media handles have spread and enabled easy long distance communications,it is no doubt that the previous modus operandi of dating would be flushed down the drain.
Most people don't make use of a pen and paper anymore but they make use of their phone keypads and apps to reach their desired love interests. This in itself has proven that technology and the digital verse can be very beneficial unlike the past.
The only sad thing with digital and technological means of dating is the fact that it has enabled deception a lot. For instance, some years back when Facebook was still the rave of the moment. A lady was approached online by a random guy who sent her a friend request. His profile picture was decent and so she accepted his request and they got chatting.
After about six months of chatting and phone calls, they both felt ready to meet face to face. This lady sent over her address containing the nearest landmark which happens to be a bank and the guy agreed to be there at a certain time and day. On the day of the meeting, this lady took her time and got all dressed up but she stayed at a restaurant opposite the bank waiting for the guy's call.
After some minutes, the guy called her to come pick him up that he was standing in front of the bank. She asked him what he was wearing and the guy described his outfit. Lo and behold, the guy she spied from where she was seated was a different version of the profile picture on his Facebook page.
He was very short with a limping leg but his profile picture was something close to Chris Hemsworth's body. She got angry, blocked his number and blocked him on Facebook. The guy waited for one hour and when he couldn't reach her phone, he left and that was the end of that dating phase.
The deception brought about by this digital world is on the extreme. Some ladies have lost their lives because of online hook-ups. In this light, I would prefer the old ways of dating to this digital way used presently.
But on the flip side, the digital and technological world has helped real relationships thrive. In the sense that couples who are apart for good reasons like school and work can bridge the distance through the use of some digital apps and social media handles.
They can connect by chatting, making phone calls and FaceTime and not feel the other's absence at all. This is one major benefit derived from the use of digital and technological apps for dating and relationships.
Sincerely, the old was good because it didn't allow for much deception but I think I'll stand with the present use of technology to foster relationships as they are efficient and fast.
Thank you all for reading... Shalom
Images used were generated with Meta Ai