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10B - The Michigan Daily - Weekend Magazine - Thursday, November 21, 2002
RENA GREIIiNGER - I GIVE YOU V OR(S)

The Michigan Daily - Weekend Magazin
U=
Prickly Pear offers unique flavors
Tasty Southwest cuisine, big portions

WHAT HAPPENED TO DATING?

Iwent on a date once. Yep, one
date in my 20 years! And I am
not talking about going out to
dinner with my boyfriend, meeting
up at 2 a.m. with that guy from the
bar or seeing a movie with my pla-

tonic male friend. When I say date,
I mean a real, hardcore date. To top
it off, it was a total disaster (Upon
my mention of wanting to see "The
Blair Witch Project," the schmuck
actually said that he didn't "do"


low-budget films! Check please!).
There are various reasons for my
lack of dating, but I would like to
focus on contemporary, young soci-
ety and how our social ideals have
changed over the years.
I have heard countless young
adults, a majority of whom are
women, complain that they have
never been out on a "real" date.
What happened to the dating cul-
ture? What happened to going to
the diner on Friday night to share a
chocolate milkshake and get to
know each other a little better? Has
our social world succumbed to the
anticipation of taking home some
inebriated specimen at the end of
the night in an attempt to symbolize
romance? Is there no longer any
motivation to spend a little private
(and sober) time with a member of
the opposite sex? Who is to blame
for all this? Is it society at large? Is
it men? Are they afraid? Cheap?
Lazy? Or is the "date" just out and
I am that dork who is trying des-
perately to revive it?
In their innocent efforts to some-
how be clued into our collegiate
lives, our parents have bombarded
us with painful questions like "Are
you dating anyone?" How do you
answer that? I believe, though I can
never be completely sure because
details are not a priority when dis-
cussing this subject with my par-
ents, they are asking if we have
been out on any dates with anyone.
These days, most would agree
that the term "dating" entails two
people in an intimate and exclusive
relationship. Our parents dated.
Back in the day, it was intrinsic to

society that the role of the young
man was to call the young lady up,
take her to dinner and a movie,
open doors, pay for everything and
respectfully kiss her goodnight.
They even dated different people
simultaneously and then made the
conscious decision to "go steady"
when they were ready to be exclu-
sive. It sounds so simple. It sounds
pretty fun. Where did it go?
I can only speak from my own
experience as a heterosexual
female student, but after much dis-
cussion with various parties on the
issue, it has come to my attention
that most people want to have, yet
have not had, the true dating expe-
rience.
Typically, instead of acting on
these desires, college kids are more
concerned with whom they're
going to get ass from at the end of
the night (pardon my vulgarity but
face it ... sex is prioritized over
intellect when it comes to spending
time with a member of the opposite
sex). Doesn't anyone care about
what people have to say anymore?
It is interesting to assess how
much our culture has changed
while our mentality has remained
the same. Consciously or not, we
are all looking for love and com-
panionship in one form or another.
Have we shunned dating as some
forbidden manner of doing so?
Perhaps this is another rebellion
against our parents' generation. We
will do anything to disgust them,
surprise them and set ourselves
apart from what they stood for
when they were young. Therefore,
we listen to rap music, go skydiv-

ing, pierce our nipples and never
ever go out on dates!
This column is not a desperate
attempt to secure dates for myself. I
am merely commenting on an issue
that I find to be fascinating in our
social world. I think everyone here
is under the assumption that dating
just happens later in life. It is an
experience saved for post-graduate,
city dwellers in search for lifelong
partners. And perhaps it shall
remain as such. But, at this great
university with its immense diversi-
ty of people, I encourage the age-
old pastime of connecting to others.
Finally, I am obliged to look at
this concept from a different and
contemporary angle. As many of
you already know, "conventional"
is not a part of my repertoire (Not
too long ago, I dedicated a column
to my refusal to change my last
name when I marry).
Thus, I wonder if this decline in
dating parallels the incline in the
women's movement in the past few
decades. In the past, it was merely
expected of men to do the asking,
the wooing, the paying and the call-
ing the next day.
But times have changed my
friends. This is the 21st century!
Ladies, we are not little, frilly,
housewives anymore. We are
CEO's, politicians, doctors and
lawyers.
We are construction workers,
police officers, writers and profes-
sional athletes. We have become
everything that this patriarchal
society has deemed us incapable of
becoming.
So, let's do one more thing that
men have always been given the
responsibilitydof.Forget tradition!
Let's revive dating with a whole
new attitude. You want a date? Go
out and get it!
Note: I would like to reinforce the
fact that I am writing from a heterosex-
ual standpoint. I do not mean to offend
anyone with the stereotypes that I men-
tion or the manner in which I analyze
relationships.
- Rena can be reached via email
at rgreifin@umich.edu.

By David Enders
Weekend Food and Drink Critic
At virtually any hour of the day,
any day of the week, my roommate
Josh can be found sitting on the
couch, watching the Food Network.
That's where I found him a few
weeks ago, when I came home
starving.
"Yo - you want to come with me
to do a restaurant review?"
Josh's eyes lit up. He actually
turned off "Molto Mario" to join
me. We decided to go to Prickly
Pear.
"What the hell is a Prickly Pear?"
my roommate Mike yelled at us as
we were leaving. I guess he was
mad because we didn't invite him to
go.
Josh and I started with a cheese
ravioli in a toasted pumpkin seed
sauce for an appetizer. Josh was
impressed with presentation and
taste:
"It was a nice blend of the south-
western style and homemade ravio-
li. They didn't overpack the ravioli.
A lot of people overpack the ravio-
li."
The only thing lacking was a
slightly time-delayed translator
with a British lilt.
"Green peppers! This is great!
Nobody garnishes with green pep-
pers. They're all about the red pep-
pers. Red peppers aren't that great."
For dinner, Josh ordered "savory"
blue corn crabcakes. He asserts
there is a difference in taste

between blue corn and regular corn.
I think he was just swayed by the
use of the word "savory" on the
menu.
"The crabcake had a nice outer
crust with the blue cornmeal. I
don't think they used any flour."
Iron Josh, the veritable gas chro-
matograph of the dining experience:
"It was an interesting flavor. A
tad salty. I've never had crabcake
with chutney. It was chili chutney
- similar to mole, but mole has
chocolate in it."
I had the baked sweet potato
enchiladas with chihuahua cheese
and squash salsa - tasty and very
filling, yet not too heavy. The
restaurant offers a number of vege-
tarian selections and unique ver-
sions of standards, such as jicama
slaw.
During dinner, all Josh talked
about was Bobby Flay. Bobby Flay,
and how if Bobby Flay was a bas-
ketball player he could probably
beat Michael Jordan in one-on-one.
I didn't say anything, because I
don't really like Bobby Flay. But
the last time I talked shit about
Bobby Flay, Josh challenged me to
a red snapper battle.
I didn't see red snapper on the
menu at Prickly Pear, but the por-
tions were generous, especially the
black beans and rice that came with
the meals. Mine lingered in the
fridge until one of my roommates
threw them out because the gooey,
unidentifiable substance dripping
from the container had begun eating

The restaurant offers a number of
vegetarian selections and unique
versions of standards, such as jicama
slaw.

through the cardboard of his case of
Bud Light.
Prickly Pear is small and pre-
dictably decorated with a South-
western theme. It's comfortable,
though, which almost made me for-
get we were in the "my parents are
in town" restaurant district, or "M-
PIT." (I'm going to keep using that
until it catches on. In fact, I think
all the neighborhoods in Ann Arbor
should have cute, Manhattanesque
names. Like "SET-O" for the "stu-
dent ghetto" or "SOS-LID" for the
"South State Street liquor store dis-
trict.")
I remembered where we were

when the bill came. Josh and
spent nearly $50, without drinkin
or dessert - though both wer
appealing: The restaurant offers
range of expensive (when you'r
talking about liquor, expensiv
means good, right?) tequilas, hous
margaritas by the pitcher and
wide selection of flans, brulees an
other things concocted by puss
French guys. BAM!
Prickly Pear is located at 32
South Main St. It's closed Monda
and open 11:30 a.m.-9 p.m. Tuesda
-Thursday, 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m. Fr:
day-Saturday and 11:30 a.m.-8:3
p.m. Sunday.
Pacola's
Just Cut It

W3041 /2 State
by Appointment
668-9329
www.iascolabarberS.com

11

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1iesday-Saturday Noon-7pm
206 West Michigan Ave.
Ypsilanti 734-484-9620
VIS

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126 W. MICH1GAN AVE. DOWNTOWN YPSI
TU-SA 11-7 SU 12-5 CLOSED MON
734.484.3833 1lien rietnaiahrenei.cor

BRENDAN O'DONNELL/Daily
Prickly Pear is a good option for those who want Southwest with a unique twist.

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