The opinions represented in this article do not necessarily represent those of the staff of CUIndependent.com nor any of its sponsors.
Editor’s note: This opinion was written in response to “Have it your way,” published on April 3, 2009, by the CU Independent.
Love.
In this day and age, that four-letter L-word gets scarcer by the day. That scarcity is the very reason why some couples get married later in life and why divorce rates are so high.
That scares the living crap out of me.
Without the four-letter L-word, the world would become a harsher place to live, high school sweethearts would one day cease to exist and many would wonder what real benefits there are to tying the knot.
Recently, my fears were compounded after I read an article in the CU Independent, “Have it your way.” The female writer said that Boulder men fit into one of three categories:
• Poorly hygienic with long unwashed hair and lazy beards.
• California douche bags or just douche bags in general.
• Overwhelmingly, in-your-face nice.
Because of those labels, the writer blamed men for not meeting her insanely high standards. As a result, she failed to hook up with a stranger for a quickie.
Does that sound like the recipe for the four-letter L-word?
I didn’t think so, and one reader who posted a response under the article agreed, “Why does sexual frustration always have to lead to an attack on the opposite gender? Maybe if you found another venue than ‘douche bag’ parties to get laid, then you wouldn’t get angry, start attacking all man for being wussies and Boulderites and blah, blah, blah and then I wouldn’t have to waste the time pointing this out. Just because you didn’t get laid doesn’t mean it’s ALL MEN’S FAULT.”
Can’t you feel the love?
I sure can’t. Nowadays, unfortunately, to find any semblance of the four-letter L-word, you have to look to Hollywood to provide those feel-good moments.
Two great examples of this decade belong to Ross Gellar and Rachel Green of the hit comedy Friends, and Seth Cohen and Summer Roberts of the teen drama The O.C.
If you were a fan of one of those two shows, then chances are good that at some point that one of those two couples stole your heart. The way their “love” played out over the airwaves made us want their “love” to be real.
Furthermore, who else does these following things:
• Ross had a crush on Rachel for 10 years.
• Rachel gave up a dream job in Paris to stay in New York with Ross.
• Seth stood on a coffee cart to proclaim his “love” for Summer.
• Summer made a collage of famous couples through time and left the middle open hoping one day, she and Seth could fill the hole.
Can’t you feel their “love?” I sure can, and it makes me sick.
This growing trend of superficiality as exhibited in “Have it your way” needs to stop.
I don’t have a magic potion or a handbook to guide me in finding that four-letter L-word that we’re all searching for. What I do know, though, is that it’s a two-way street. As they say, it takes two to tango.
Well, no one can tango if the ladies are constantly looking for the GQ cover boy while the guys seek Sports Illustrated swimsuit models. There are only so many of them.
At the end of the day, wouldn’t people be happier if they found someone they wanted to tango with, rather than waiting an eternity to never find that dance partner that was never really theirs to begin with?
But hey, if you have to have the GQ cover boy or the Sports Illustrated swimsuit model, then have fun watching other people become their very own…
Ross Gellar and Rachel Green.
Seth Cohen and Summer Roberts.
Contact CU Independent Staff Writer Cheng Sio at Cheng.sio@colorado.edu.
