Kissing a Stranger

 

Dear you,

Valentine’s Day 2021 is approaching.  How are we celebrating this romantic holiday during a pandemic?  Beloved partners might be sick of each other.  The quarantine effect = intimacy overload.  On the other hand, beloved partners might be even more in love, having faced their fears (and boredom) together for a year now. The victims of intimacy overload are dreading V Day.  The in-love-more-than-evers are pumped!

But what about the uncoupled?  How do they feel about Valentine’s Day, specifically a Valentine’s Day during a pandemic?

When I was young and sexy, I was rarely in a committed relationship.  I had a long list of boyfriends and phases of intense couple-hood, but I never really wanted a forever relationship.  I did, however, always love romance.  And because I loved romance, I loved Valentine’s Day, with or without a beau.  I think about my New York City self during this holiday.  One of my favorite things to do was to go out to a lovely (not trashy) bar or club on Valentine’s night and meet a stranger.  Just for a chat.  Just for a dance.  Just for a kiss in the dark.

This was fun. This was erotic and sweet and fleeting and so not 2020-2021.

Our young (or old) uncoupled can’t do this now.  Bars and clubs are contagion zones.  Chatting and dancing six feet apart with a mask on?  So not hot.  And obviously, forget about kissing.

I heard one health expert predict we might not return to a kissable normal for seven years.  I hope this guy is really, really wrong.  I want our coupled and uncoupled to be able to do what Valentine’s Day is all about, at least for me:

Kissing a stranger.

That's all.  That's actually everything.

Happy V Day 2021; looking forward to our non-distanced, smoochy future.

Love,

Joyce