Doesn’t Anyone Want To Have A Crush Anymore?
In the immediacy of the digital age, I miss yearning.
In high school, I liked a guy we’ll call Charlie, who had strict parents. He couldn’t be on the phone without them getting suspicious (these were landline days), so he waited to call me until 10:47 pm every night. That was the minute his dad left the house to pick up his mom from work.
I’d have my phone on the ground so the carpet muffled the ring and my mom wouldn’t hear. We’d both whisper the inanities of our day to each other, smiling and giggling, until 11:13 pm when his parents would return. He’d wait until he heard the key in the lock before saying a quick goodbye, after which he’d hoof it up the stairs before they spotted him.
Oh, the joy of those 26 minutes! Each night, my stomach felt alive with the glow of a thousand fireflies.
Back in the day, crushes took a minute to form and simmered for a while before we turned on the heat. In the pre-digital world, you had to meet someone in person and get to know them a little before you saw them naked.
The digital world has killed a lot of things no one really misses, like phone books and paper planners. It’s also maimed a few things many of us hold dear, like independent book stores.
