Romantic Restrictions

Collectively, St. Lawrence students have acknowledged that COVID-19 restrictions and the Laurentian pact are definitely killing the campus vibe. No more parties, no more visiting your friends dorms, and no more away games. Not to mention the glaringly obvious influx of anxiety provided by a pandemic that threatens the health of you and your loved ones. 

Even with the negative social side effects of a pandemic, could there be a silver lining? Well, there’s no question in my mind that the dispersal of fossil fuels in the air has slowed down (if only briefly), tik tok has made us all hollywood worthy, and some of us have learned the importance of friends and family. But today, I don’t want to talk about any of those things. Instead, I want to talk about romance. Yes, you read that right —red roses, walks in the moonlight, and really bad mixtapes. 

I don’t know about you, but I grew up hearing stories about how my parents fell madly in love in college and they were everyone’s favorite couple. We all know the story. They met through a mutual acquaintance, became great friends, went out on that one impromptu date…and the rest is wholesome history. Fast forward to my college days, where the most romantic interaction a girl can hope for is that awkward waist-grab that happens when someone slides past you at Java. Um, not cute. 

However, with the recent Laurentian pact restrictions, there are no more of the inevitable “ my room or yours?” or “ you up” texts that everyone dreams about. Actually, texting has become more obsolete with the passing weeks. People are forced to do the unthinkable— venture out of their rooms and actually talk to people.  This terrifying endeavor has become the norm, with people hanging out on the quad and actually talking the night away.  The occasional drink is in hand, but the era of using tequila shots and beer pong to avoid authentic interaction has since passed…. hopefully.

What does this mean for us romantics? Friendships with the opposite sex that actually last, or the possiblity of a respectful conversation that doesn’t end with “ sooo my roommate is gone for the night”? Could it be possible that romance isn’t dead? 

Don’t get me wrong, tequila shots have their place. Yet, it is nice to imagine a campus where we can form friendships and romantic relationships the old fashioned way. I’m not saying our parents didn’t drink, but there is something about having a casual conversation over beers that beats stumbling around a packed townhouse looking for that one guy you hooked up with last semester ( who is grinding on someone else, by the way).

So, even among the hard rules and regulations of the Laurentian pact, maybe we can find hope for new connections. Hopefully, our generation can acquaint ourselves with the art of conversation while finding our way back to something that resembles normalcy.