You remember my cousin? The hapless, love-poisoned teenager partially glued to his Smartphone? Well, for those of you looking for an update -- he's forgotten all about 'what's-her-face,' as he so eloquently puts it. Or so he claims...
I can tell by the way he's slouching, the way his bony shoulders hunch forward -- something's wrong.
Still, he insists, "Nothing's wrong."
"You sure?"
"Well..." And we're walking out of SIR rehearsal studios on Sunset Blvd. The traffic's sparse and the weather just right for a two-block walk to the car. "You know that song you guys were just playing back there? 'End of Summer'?
"Doesn't ring a bell," I joke.
But my cousin still doesn't find me funny. He digs his hands into his pocket. Sighs.
"Kind of got me thinking. I met my ex-girlfriend at the beginning of summer. And -- I don't know." Someone honks at a car refusing to turn left at the intersection up ahead. "What's that song supposed to be about?"
"What did it make you think about?"
"Well..." And we're crossing the street when my cousin takes a deep breathe. "How you have to accept that all things -- even the very best things -- come to an end. Your High School sweetheart. My three-month relationship. The one night stand. A random conversation with a girl at a bar. They 'failed', maybe, but they weren't a waste of time. They're a part of who you are now. You say, 'I was in love with what's-her-face. We were meant to be.' You cry and cry. When really, you were just in love with the way they made you feel. And that's something you can get back. Well..."And now we're at the car. My cousin reaches for his keys. "Maybe not get back, but --"
"Get again," I chime in.
"Exactly," he says.
"Hold onto the memory of summer, and never forget -- there's always the next one."
Damn man. That's some heavy stuff. Whether your cousin is real or just part of a long running allegory that I would support continuing on... that last line is one of the better ways I've heard to help describe the love-loss-love again concept. A friend of mine once told me, "I know it hurts now, but someday she'll just be another girl." ... the what's-her-face mentality.
ReplyDeleteAs a woman, I think that we fall into two categories at the same time - one is we want to be needed as an insecurity instilled in us from generation to generation. Two, is that we get off on the power we have over you. It's amazing what a guy will do for a little heavy petting, so sometimes we take full and overwhelming advantage of that. It's a vicious game...love.
ReplyDeleteHEY!! @Samdenout - Let me first say: you do not speak for all woman. In fact, I'm sure a good 98 percent of us would like to slap some sense into you. You've clearly never been in love if that's your outlook on it. Love is the most sensational feeling in the world. It's like, if every selfish thought you've ever had disappears because it's not about you anymore. Love is doing something for someone else not because you'll get something out of it, whether it satisfaction or the opposite, it's about acts of goodness simply because you know it will make that person happy. Love goes beyond you because its both of you - two becoming one - not this bull crap you're talking about leading someone like a lap dog. What kind of person are you? Not the kind of person I want to be around. And oh, when you find people distancing themselves from you, don't be surprised. The good ones can smells the sour ones a mile away.
ReplyDeleteStop speaking for us, you're not one of us.