Smoke & Tell

If a tree falls in the woods and no one is around to hear it, does it still make sound?

Or better yet - if a guy smokes behind his girlfriend’s back, and she wasn’t there to see it, has he still broken his promise?

As of late I’ve noticed people doing things their partners believe they either (1) never did or (2) don’t do anymore. It can involve smoking as shown in the example above, or it can be the odd marijuana joint. It could involve talking – maybe even catching up with someone you had (or still do have) a thing for.

It’s no wonder why some people like to keep their love lives and their social lives in separate bubbles, and why the other unrelentingly proposes for a merger.

But did anyone ever stop to think about what the mutual friends go through?

We have to go about keeping the trust of one while betraying the other: because God knows if I was her I’d wish someone had told me earlier (you might have to read that a couple of times for it to make sense).

You might think you’re the victim of a controlling partner who made you hide things from them to keep your sanity, but we’re collateral damage when word gets out.

Whether we were friends with your partner before you guys started dating, or whether you introduced us – we lose the respect of that person because it becomes obvious we too were conspirators.

So have mercy on us next time you tell us not to tell your girlfriend. We appreciate that you're confiding in us, and of course we’re here for you – but can we suggest that as a new years resolution you be more honest in your relationship?

Love, Noeline.
xox

Present etiquette

From the 1st to the 12th day of Christmas my true love gave to me... well, nothing. And the feeling’s mutual. I didn’t get my boyfriend anything either. This may come as a shock to some of you, as did a friend of mine when she asked what I had got him. "We don’t really believe in giving presents for the sake of it," I told her.

If only her now ex-boyfriend lived by the same philosophy. He "chucked a sook" having received a canvas print from her one Christmas. My guess is that he was wondering where the other nine parts to his gift were.

How did we come to breed kids with attitudes such as these anyway? Then I thought back to my shifts in retail this Christmas season, and how I’ve swiped many a parent’s credit card for upwards of $500 on one child.

I trolled the internet hoping to point fingers at who got us into this mess.

According to Articles Base, "in the Christian faith gifts… represent the presents the wise men brought to the baby Jesus." Since then "gift giving became a symbolic reminder of the birth of Christ."

Then, “Christmas shopping was encouraged to overcome the depression during the period 1839-40” (All Things Christmas). There’s not much difference in 2009, with recent news coverage lamenting that this year’s Christmas expenditure won’t be enough to undo the damage of the global financial crisis.

Ironic how materialism rides on spirituality.

Love, Noeline.
xox

Ponder-replay

A couple of weeks ago, I lost my phone for the second time in two years. Fearing that this might actually become a yearly ritual, I have decided to refrain from such things as Blackberrys and iPhones.

So I bought a $39 brick from the Optus store. Supposedly locked to the Optus network, I teamed it with a $5 sim card from Virgin. Which makes me wonder, what actually goes on when people fork out $80 for an 'unlocking' service fee?