RIP: One Night Stand

Facebook, Twitter, SMS, BBM, Skype...we are constantly connected to the world. In fact I think it takes more effort to disconnect than it does to simply remain constantly reachable. But what has this done to the one night stand? Can we really have a one-nighter? Is it possible to meet a man, have a night of incredible, intense, mind-boggling passion and leave it at that? It’s possible, but it’s not likely.

The world is at our finger tips. Cute guy? Twitpic it. Need a restaurant recommendation? Urban Spoon.  Highschool flame recently single? Thank God for Facebook. We have become a breed of people who can’t wait for any kind of information. We refuse to. We don’t look things up; we don’t “research”; we Google.  But does this world of instant knowledge mean the death of the one night stand? A time honoured tradition – the go-to for every heartbroken, twentysomething ever to cry her eyes out over a pint of chunky monkey. 

It just might.

If we refuse to give him our number, fine he can’t call us (we don’t really expect one night stands to call us anyway). But what about Google? Did you give him a fake name? No? You probably forgot to tell him that your name is Zoe Danger, international woman of mystery. So if he has your name he has an infinite number of places where he can find you again. Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn...

But let’s be honest. Men aren’t the only ones finding ways to reconnect with the flavour of the week. We look them up. We search on Facebook to see if he is really single, we look at pictures and we compare ourselves to that really pretty redhead with her hand on his arm. Do we do this because we want to marry the boy who will forever be known as pool table guy, blondie, or that dude with the odd shaped...scar? Of course we don’t. But curiosity gets the better of us and we ruin the magic of the event without any help from anyone else.

So how do we keep the sanctity of the one night stand? It starts with us. Don’t look him up, don’t try and find out if you have friends in common. Gush about the event with your girlfriends over margaritas, not Facebook. Change your profile settings and enjoy being anonymous for a while.  And maybe, just maybe, a few of us will still be able to savour the moment for what it was...a moment.

Image courtesy stock.xchng.