After tucking myself away in a relationship fallout shelter for some time, I emerged this week to find that the radioactive-style of college dating has reached the maximum toxicity level. None of my friends (or prospective candidates for dates) believe in the getting-to-know-you part of dating or sex; they simply settle for hook-ups.

It's all romanticism on speed, you meet someone, you exchange numbers, then you end up in bed with them -- or in any crack or crevice where you can get your jollies off.

"The Hook-Up" seems to be the replacement for relationships, or are hook-ups a type of relationship?

By popular definition, to hook-up is to meet a stranger, or an acquaintance, and then both parties become involved in some sort of intimacy (which may or may not include a sex). Usually, after this encounter takes place, neither party speaks to each other or the relationship never blooms past the stage of platonic sex. 

Now, it seems as if "hook-ups" include the characteristics of a committed relationship, along with the sex. These artificial relationships are often uneven, since one person is under the sincere impression that there is "something" there, while the other clearly has no clue about the feelings involved.

Commitment has become the new dirty word!

Whenever "commitment" is mentioned amongst my peers, they shriek, writhe, and wriggle with overall disgust and disdain. They seem to be content with there faux hook-up relationships, because something is better than nothing. I guess they feel this way with good reason; the dating pool is getting shallower, and most of us are discontent with single life. 

Where does this new relationship ideal leave me?

For now, I plan to walk back into my fallout shelter to find new ways to approach this toxic wasteland of relationships. Hopefully, I will be able come up with something more than resorting to "The Person I Might Know" on Facebook.