As all intelligent souls know and understand, there are ways to 'ask people
out' and ways to sweep people off their feet. The latter is preferred. Unfortunately,
many of this weak generation have lost the zing of the romantical adventure
called 'wooing'. This is a terrifying word and a slightly strange one. People,
especially teens usually start laughing and snorting when they hear this or
they shrug and say, 'Uhhh..'. Thus, I shall term this
term: 'catching'.
Long ago, back in the day when people knew how to Catch....
A young gentleman with prospects and a mind towards a good future calls upon
the lady (not the other way around) but never without the consent of the
father. If the father liked the young man, he would tell the soon-to-be caller
something along the following: 'Yes, you may court my daughter, start here in
my home, and then we progress slowly.' The young man (yearning for the father's
respect) nods, and then shakes his hand.
He then asks the girl (probably on the way home from a church picnic or a
church service), "Would you do me the honour of seeing me?" Or
something similar to that.
Now, before we sprout ahead, I need to refresh your young twenty first
century mind to the ideals of courtship. Courtship has different meanings and
different faces. Especially according to the age it’s in.
Then: Courtship was the 'dating' of the times. The young man would save and
prepare himself for supporting a family. He would approach the father and
request the daughter. Now, this wasn't trivial. Courtship was (and still is in
the mind) to be approaching marriage. The scary M word of our society. He would
then ask the girl (if the father had given permission) if she was interested.
If she said yes, they would meet in public settings, and progress like snails
(usually & if everything was proper).
Now: We have dating as the norm, but a few select folks use the ancient
methods of courtship (now, as a typical matchmaker, I yearn for the romantic.
Courtship if simply more romantic than date-ing. Which makes me think of shriveled
fruits.