So the Playwright and I officially announced our relationship to the world—via Facebook.
Yes, that’s right, we are “official” because we are connected through that monstrous social network
Our relationship had matured to the point where it was obvious we were no longer just “casually” dating. I would call her when I was anywhere in Manhattan near—or near a train going to—Paragraph, the NYC space for writers where she writes. For example, one night I called her after an all-day public relations event in SoHo. I was near the N/R train and would be in Union Square in about a half hour, was she breaking for dinner and did she want to grab a turkey burger with me at The Stand. “I mean ya gotta eat,” I told her. She said sure she had to eat and she would love to share a meal with me. That’s how she put it—share a meal. She’s very careful with words. Being a playwright and all, I suppose she’s much better with the dialogue than I am. Dialogue is my weak point, reportage is easy, but making characters talk is hard for me
Anyhow, we started calling each other when we would be anywhere close to each other. It seemed Union Square was our focal point. We both took trains from the subway there to get home—and to each other’s apartments, where we were now staying overnight rather than taking a car service home at 3 a.m.
So, we were at dinner at a Mexican place near Union Square and I said ,”ya know we are more than casually dating at this point and we may as well call ourselves girlfriends if that’s alright with you.” The Playwright said it was more than okay and she really dug the idea. So I said, “let’s go all out and announce us on Facebook.” I whipped out my Blackberry Pearl and typed from Facebook mobile into my status bar “@ dinner w/gf, relationship status TK.” We were laughing our heads off. What a ripple this was going to cause among our friends!
We actually didn’t go home with each other that night—we both had stuff the next day that didn’t make room for it. That’s what I like about her—she’s very independent and has great boundaries! So, as agreed, when we each arrived home, we independently updated our relationship status on Facebook to “In a relationship”. I immediately received a call from my most recent (two years gone) ex who said she had to de-friend me because she couldn’t deal with seeing my status about another woman. Fair enough I suppose. I mean how do you argue—if I even wanted to—with someone who doesn’t want to be your Facebook friend. So I said OK and she said have a good life and hung up. Kinda dramatic, but hey, I’ve said the same thing just in different circumstances.
The following week, the Playwright and I linked to each other in the relationship arena on Facebook. Again the marriage plans began. Her friend Melissa has us in an Ellen and Portia scenario: I get to wear the silk dress and she’s filling the suit. Nice idea, I guess, but one major problem: neither of us believes in marriage, for a lot of reasons. So, it ain’t gonna happen, ever. Plus, as my girlfriend says, we are really still getting to know each other. This seems eminently reasonable to me.