Trophy dating - an interesting observation...

Why do 90% of my blogs pertain to the "Romance and Relationships" category?

Today, my son and I went Christmas shopping. Believe it or not, this is the earliest I've started this ritual. However, my procrastination habits are a blog I'll write tomorrow...

I love to people-watch. As we were driving, walking and shopping, I saw numerous couples. Yeah, who would have thought, huh? A week out from Christmas and there's people out-and-about. It's just weird... As we wandered around, I became more intently focused on the behavior of other people - especially couples. I felt like Stan Lee's character in "Mallrats." As we pulled out of one of the parking lots, I came to a stunning realization. I saw so many "cute" couples that probably couldn't have been less into each other. It depressed me. I almost felt bad for those people. It's amazing how physical attributes play such a huge role in our society. It was discouraging to see so many couples that "go through the motions." The shopping, lunch, coffee, etc. - they looked so completely miserable; but on the surface, they seem to be your ordinary, happy couple. In a following moment of genius, I officially termed the phenomeon as "Trophy Dating." Think about it. How many women date guys in which they really have nothing in common, but stay with them because he's attractive or rich? On the same token, observe how many men continue to date the Barbie dolls of our world, but will never actually enjoy a stimulating, intellectual conversation. Of course, there's always the scenario in which one treats the other like a doormat, but they can't escape the abuse because of the emphasis they place on looks and/or security. It's easy to say that people caught in this mess "deserve" it. However, many people have had the rotten luck of being treated this way for such a significant amount of time that it blinds them and clouds their judgement.

I'm human. I have my share of brain-farts and insecurity-based episodes. But it's moments like these that make me realize how fortunate I really am to have had - though few and far-between) a bundled package.