Even Archie doesn’t settle down with either Veronica or Betty before he can play the field. So why should we settle for anything less?
IT’S that time of the year again when the world makes it a point to rub in the fact that you are on the wrong side of 30, depressed and still single ... basically a loser of the highest social order!
Valentine’s Day is hyped up as the day that celebrates love, a day when all the jargon about the world needing more love is constantly advocated by all quarters. And if you ask me, the psychological twist of sending Valentine greetings (with or without candy) to your mother, sister or friend if you don’t have a love interest stashed away somewhere is all but baloney! There’s no escaping the nagging feeling that another year has passed by and you still hold fast (read committed) to cherished bachelorhood. Makes me wanna kick myself silly.
But, hey, it’s not like I haven’t tried. On the contrary, I’d be a perfect Valentino clone with all the dates I’ve been on, carrying my heart on a sleeve to each and every one of them. But when it comes to choosing the person whom you’d like to spend the rest of your life with, you just can’t marry the girl who crosses your path (and says ‘yes’) ... or can you? All the hype about waiting for Ms Right seems inconsequential come February 14. Your friends start bragging about their plans for the evening (and night), posh restaurants advertize specialities and classifieds carry Valentine greetings in endless columns. But all the single you can see is a lot of red minus the romance. Oh, the agony!
So what to do? Well, for starters, you can marry the girl next door just for the sake of jumping on the bandwagon of marital bliss. But then you think ... even Archie doesn’t want to settle down with either Veronica or Betty before he can play the field to his heart’s content. So why should we settle for anything less? Life is full of tough choices, and then Valentine’s Day comes along and makes it all the more complicated.
And it’s not that married couples set a perfect example either. Come Feb 14 morning and you have the wife slaving in the kitchen as usual to get breakfast ready for the ‘lord of the house’ who is still asleep after hitting the snooze button on the clock to grab his extra 40 winks. But today, there is a certain spring in her step, no doubt in anticipation of the ‘surprise’ that lays in store for her later on in the day, it being Valentine’s Day and all. She goes about her household chores for the rest of the day, but the moment she hears the key turn in the front door lock, she composes herself for the flowers, but there are none to be had. She hides her disappointment well and waits for the hubby to get comfortable and divulge his plans for the evening. Painfully, the hands of the clock show seven, then eight ... eight-thirty ... but hubby dear doesn’t show any sign of budging from his comfortable chair. Oh, he does throw her a curious glance, more out of ‘when is dinner gonna be ready’ than ‘what’s come over her today’. Finally, she runs out of patience and explodes, sending him scurrying and trying to make amends. By then the damage has been done, and the mood for the evening takes on a sullen note.
So does a single swinger need that in his life? Well, to tell you the truth, I’m confused. There can be no sense of independence in a relationship and there can be no companionship until you are willing to commit yourself to another — body and soul. This leads me to search for a third option ... if one exists, that is!
Even Archie doesn’t settle down with either Veronica or Betty before he can play the field. So why should we settle for anything less? 
