Sunset Waters

Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O no! it is an ever-fixed mark
That looks on tempests and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken.
Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle’s compass come:
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.
Sonnet 116, William Shakespeare

Has ever more human angst been spent on love that is not returned? William Shakespeare wrote sonnets to his loves. He wrote them longhand in fourteen line iambic pentameter verse. Now a days, he might just tweet in 140 characters.

On this subject, you should consider me no more an expert than a man landing from Mars. I and my love have requited for over forty years, since high school. This week, we danced together in our kitchen, before six AM, to Leslie Gore’s recent PSA, You Don’t Own Me. I’m no expert on love, remember, I’m the man from Mars, but maybe the luckiest. I found my ideal woman from Venus. I’m just so grateful to have it, the love of a good woman.

I was listening to one of my favorite podcasts during my lunchtime, walk the engineer exercise. Dan, my usual walking buddy was on travel, so I automated him. This day’s podcast was Slate’s Cultural Gabfest, their article on the social dating website, HeTexed struck a chord. The following is an example of one of their most quoted he texted dialogs.

Hey
Sup
Thanks for last night.
Can we meet up again soon?
….
Okay, can you answer one question???
What?
Why did you give me that bag Skittles?

While there is a certain haiku to some of these dialogs, the entire website stinks of male misogyny. It preys upon the natural female habit of girl exegesis.  In return, this website only offers a yes, no or maybe crowd sourced response. In this example, “He’s into you” 9, “He’s not into you” 547. Really not very good advice to the love-lorn, much better sport for the mob.

In years to come, I may have to get back into the dating scene. I’m married for life, as is my wife and I pray that we both enjoy a long life together. In that event, the following scenario is our fall back position: 

An elegantly dressed, elderly woman walked into a bar. She must have been in her eighties. A little while later, a dapperly dressed old man came into the bar. Spying the lady, he saddled up next to her and sat at the neighboring bar stool. I overheard his pickup line, “Do I come here often?”