I wanted to lie. It always happens a week before the new issue comes out. Inevitably somebody asks, “What’s the theme this month?”
I usually want to scream it from mountaintops, overflowing with excitement at what the topic will bring: appreciation, anger, controversy–whatever it is, I live for this reaction. My heart beats rapidly that first day, and I click incessantly on the refresh button to see what people with strangely-absurd pseudonyms have said in their comments.
But this time, I wanted to lie. It came by way of Google chat. My best friend typed, “So what is it?! What’s the theme this time?!”
So many exclamation marks demanded I give her an answer, and so I shamefully typed:
“Oh” she typed back.
Exactly. “Oh.”
It’s a topic that’s terribly overdone, over-analyzed, over-criticized. Simply put, it’s over.
But the reality is this:
1. Married people joke about how painful it is, yet keep asking unmarried people when they’re going to tie the knot.
2. Single people pretend they despise talking about it, yet shriek with excitement every time a friend or foe gives in. “Oh my goodness, can you believe he’s ALREADY getting married? They’ve known each other for like, what? Three months?”
3. Independent women say they’re in no rush, but when a 30th birthday is around the corner, find themselves nose-deep in a tub of ice cream, complaining to friends: “I haven’t even found a decent guy to date, I’m never going to find a husband!”
So despite my hesitations, we brave the topic of marriage this month. For all those people, including myself, who keep thinking “What’s the fuss all about?” but know somewhere deep down, they’re entangled in a web of wedding wonder, this issue is your mental playground.
