Post-graduate romance
By Christopher DaCosta
As I check off another day on my obligatory senior year countdown, my four-day weekends spent idling with a bowl of Benson fruit out on Alumni Terrace are numbered, as is my "free" Malley membership. Soon my classmates and I will be forced to brave a harsh world devoid of rent checks signed with love from Momma and free haircuts from Biff, your buzzed roomie. Now that it's time to say goodbye to this life of luxury, what will become of our love lives?
Some of us are already sickeningly in love with the deadbeat parent of our child, while other people are still scouring the single scene at The Claran because they've either sloppily made out with everyone at The Hut, or been asked never to return after making out with someone's grandfather. Whatever your status, Santa Clara's delicately constructed motley crew of romantically inept misfits are not going to follow you back to Oregon, to law school or to that ritzy finance job in San Francisco's financial district.
Sure, once we have degrees, we'll still meet plenty of eligible bachelors and bachelorettes, but it's going to take a bit of work. That sexy, upperclasswoman isn't just going to saunter into your life anymore. Your dating days, or even your social future for that matter, may seem rather bleak and uncertain, or even destined to a dive bar fate. Meeting your next Don Juan at happy hour after a long hard day at the office doesn't exactly seem inviting. So where will we meet and canoodle with future potential love interests?
My ever-optimistic coworker, who will remain nameless, was quick to delude herself with many possible options. "We can still meet people while perusing organic produce at Whole Foods, at the gym, in bohemian coffee shops -- the possibilities are endless," she exclaimed, with her eyes shining and hair raven-eqsue. "You can even meet people at work!"
This got me thinking. Remember the days of underclassman housing? More importantly, remember the cardinal rule of residence hall living? And no, it's not "if you drink, you will die a horrible, horrible death." The correct rule went something along the lines of steering clear of dating anyone who lives in your building. Perhaps as adults, this new rule will apply to our jobs.
Pursuing love in the workplace seems like a racy and exciting way to live on the edge once we've joined the masses of working stiffs. I mean, come on, bathroom break rendezvous, office IM chats, lunchtime lip-locking? Sign me up!
* Contact Christopher DaCosta at (408) 554-4546 or cdacosta@scu.edu.