By: Jehangir Saleh
Written: March 8, 2004

My dearest Friends,

I use to bloody well hate love. Not only was I convinced it didn’t exist (and yes, I could prove it), I believed it was a disease, a severe mental disorder, to take from Plato.

And consider this: Britney Spears (in all her whore-like glory) pretended to get married last month, and her fake/temporary dick of a husband stuck his hands down her pants so the tabloids could get a good cover shot. Fast forward to George Bush (is all HIS whore-like glory) during his state of the union address. Good old I’m-A-Pit-Bull-On-The-Pant-Leg-Of-Opportunity said in his speech that he has a responsibility to protect the “sanctity of marriage”. Ironically, after her husband finished whacking her off and she threw him away, Ms. Spears apologised and said she believed in the “sanctity of marriage”.

Lovely, isn’t it?

And I promise not to extend my diatribe to include The Bachelor and the Bachelorette, where marriage is a commodity, one big black Monday in waiting. Although I must be honest – in the work I do, when I study spousal abuse and feminism, there is no theory that says “they stopped loving each other”. Instead, it’s about the money, the cars, the children (or lack there of), it’s because marriage is a completely pragmatic institution and “love” is a word used only by teenagers and the mentally retarded.

If you’ve gotten this far, and thank you for doing so, you’re probably wondering where I’m going with all this. I guess I’m saying two things: love is industrialized, it’s become a commodity and void of that special stuff that makes it special. It’s heavily stereotyped, as per all my examples. I can’t even think of one poet who writes about love and isn’t dead (ok, one, but that’s it).

And second, it doesn’t have to be this way. Love is a silent understanding that sits between two people. Love is NOT sex. Loving someone isn’t saying those 3 fearful words, it’s something that happens outside of you. You can’t control it. But I urge you all to walk around, blind, seeking it out. Making yourself open.

Valentines day (whether you think is a sexist product of the Roman’s or the birth-child of greedy Hallmark executives, or even the Chicago massacre) is coming up and if you’re with someone, don’t forget to be romantic. And more importantly, be sure to hug someone who’s still waiting.

Thanks to Elisha for the theory, Lindsey for the application, a bald guy who writes for the New York Times (I took his Bush example) and snobby couple with too much money at the opera this evening who triggered all of this.