It’s a Monday night, and I’m sitting on the couch with….nope not a bag of Doritos but rather a crunchy red apple (argh). I start browsing Facebook in search of the latest engagements, pregnancy announcements, and political posts, when I come across one of those BuzzFeed quizzes. Well Melissa, what’s better than some self-deprecating humor? This particular quiz will lay out the next five years of my life. I find this particularly hilarious because I had read once in a Steve Harvey (the TV relationship guru) book that one of the questions you should ask a male that you are interested in possibly dating is where they see themselves in five years. I have certainty gotten some interesting responses to this very question. Does it even really matter though if the relationship doesn’t last more than five dates? Listen Steve, why get ahead of ourselves?

As soon as I clicked and the INSTANT results popped up I felt sudden joy. My mundane life turned into one filled with abs, glorious vacations, lace wedding gowns, and cute babies with matching bows (see picture below). I quickly convinced myself that this was in fact my life plan and that the one I was currently living would only leave me parched looking for the nearest water fountain of hope. It’s definitely no coincidence that I just started working with a nutrition coach again and have taken on a reclusive lifestyle in order to put my own health on the leaderboard for 2019. This quiz was obviously 100% accurate. Then out of nowhere pragmatic, levelheaded, realistic Melissa shows back up and reminds me that the last BuzzFeed quiz told me that the profession I was destined to partake in was a bull wrangler. A bull wrangler? Why not a fashion designer? famous author? professional dog snuggler? Needless to say, these INSTANT life plans suddenly felt coerced by the very computer screen they jumped out at me from a moment earlier.

Have we turned into an INSTANT society? Are we no longer willing to search, wait, discover, unfold, and create the very life we so desire?

Students in school now have exclusive rights to a teacher’s gradebook 24/7 by logging into online gradebooks. If you want a green lampshade with white strips to complete your latest home decor vision you can have it on your doorstep the very next day by using Amazon Prime. We can stream full seasons of TV shows within seconds. I remember the days of sitting around the radio with all of the other anxious children at my babysitters reciting the ABC’s and trying to figure out when and if they would announce a snow day for the Valley Central School District. Unfortunately for us, V was at the end of the alphabet . Now, we receive an e-mail, Facebook notification, tweet, phone call, and/or text INSTANTLY. No waiting. OK, OK what’s my point? If you think about it, anything can be delivered INSTANTLY: food, flowers, answers on Google, and even people.

Well, not literally people, but with apps like Tinder, Match, Jswipe, and Plenty of Fish romantic candidates are right at your fingertips. It is safe to say that just like children sitting around a radio waiting to hear their school announce a snow day has become a thing of the past, so has the commonality of a suitor wooing a potential mate in person.

Has the demand for instantaneous feedback and a slew of potential partners at your fingertips made dating less romantic and more difficult? Does the thrill of INSTANT gratification turn the dating scene into a revolving door of first dates?

My apple didn’t turn into Doritos. My five year plan has been dwindled down to a list of weekly goals. Tomorrow there is the potential for a snow day for schools in Orange County, NY. I’ll turn my pajamas inside out tonight, turn the radio on tomorrow morning to listen for Pine Bush (phew a P not a V), and continue believing that romance is not a thing of the past.