Entry Deterrence: Might It Be High for the Not-Meant-To-Be’s Part 1 of 3

As a teenage girl I’d read a lot of love stories about couples who ended up not being together because of some form of freak miscommunication. Like, they promised to meet up at Times Square but a car accident made him late, and they missed each other by a hair (he ran there in rags and on crutches as fast as he could). Or, his letter to her got lost during the war and she thought he’d dumped her and so she married someone else. Or, he was really into her but too shy to speak up, and his best friend got there first...

I know, I know, running to Times Square in rags and on crutches, cliché much? Hey, I was a dramatic teenager entitled to a healthy dose of angst. What, you think past generations of teenagers didn’t have angst before Bella? I was going through a tragic romance phase, I think.

When I was reading those stories, I always felt so bad for the main protagonists. But now that I’m older, I’m not as sympathetic to them as I once was. If he won’t get over his nervousness and go ask the girl to dance, he shouldn’t go blame anyone else if she gets spoken for. If a guy promises you the moon then misses one date, shouldn’t you at least give him a call to check if he’s dead in a ditch somewhere before writing him off? If it’s war time and he knows that the postal service is not exactly reliable (you know, air raids and all), shouldn’t he write another letter if he got no response? Shouldn’t she?

Real-life relationships take patience, work, persistence, nurturing, and a go-getter attitude

(that applies to everything in life, really). Even if by some luck the fictional couples get married, their flaws would’ve crept up later on in life anyways. For example:

-A person who gives up too easily might do the same when it comes to setting boundaries for their children, or fighting to keep their house from foreclosure.

-A person who’s poor with communication might also neglect to tell you about his prescription drugs addiction / credit card debt / expired car insurance.

-A person who misplaces his trust in the postal service might also be hiring the wrong plumber, or worse, the wrong financial adviser.

-And if he’s too nervous to talk to the girl in question, he might also be too scared to make a career leap, or say no to his mother.

(continued in my next post...)