This week, the secrets are generally Valentine-themed. And what a surprise, I'm getting quite the a [I began writing this post on Sunday] head start on reviewing them (mostly or at least partly as a way of avoiding doing other things, but in any case)...
"I am in love with her/She will unintentionally break my heart./But I can't turn off this feeling.//Even though I know it won't ever be returned,/And even though I know I will get hurt,/Loving her is the best thing that's ever happened to me./No amount of heartache could ever make me regret this feeling."
This doesn't seem like the healthiest relationship, but what do I know... I mean, I guess love isn't always the most rational of motivations, but still. Maybe the person who wrote this is a decently normal and acceptable person, but I also get a slight sense that they could perhaps be a little bit of a creep. It just seems like a slightly obsessive way of writing about someone in the secret.
"I have hidden gumdrops in the glove box of my car. I'm 66."
I can understand this (there's no age limit on enjoying candy), although I wonder about the climate that this person lives in. If it gets too warm, the gumdrops might melt (hopefully they're in a container?).
"When you're hot, everyone tells you that being a good person is enough, that someone will love you for who you are/It's the cruelest lie I have ever been told."
Interestingly, this is not the only secret I can recall seeing that had to do with a supposedly-attractive person complaining about the downsides of being "too" good-looking. I wonder how good-looking one has to be in order to have these sorts of problems? Does the fact that I haven't had these problems mean that I'm not good-looking? (I think a fair opinion of myself is that I'm at least average-looking and not horrifically ugly)
"I am equally excited + terrified to learn who I am without you"
This one is relatively short and simple although I like the feeling it conveys; it seemed like something a bit different than usual.
"My boyfriend started sleeping with his wife again./Happy Valentines Day" (on a Pantone color card, number 493, which is a shade of pink)
The whole concept of people having affairs and such is one that I find sort of fascinating for some reason, which is why this secret caught my eye. I wonder if the secret means the affair is coming to an end, or if now the guy is going to sleep with his wife while still continuing the affair?
"i wish you still loved me the way you did when we drove down this road in montauk" (over a photo of what is presumably the road mentioned in the secret)
This one has that vague and sort of wistful A Softer World feeling to it that occasionally comes up in these secrets.
"NO one SENDS you FLOWERS when You are Crazy!"
I wonder if this is a secret referring to the personal experience of the person who wrote it (as in, they are crazy and no one sends them flowers) or if it's supposed to be in reference to other people who are crazy and therefore won't be sent flowers... it's ambiguous.
in the form of a memo: "Company Name Here/Memo/To: I'm just the receptionist./From: Your family owns the company./CC: I could have any number of better jobs with my MBA and $100,000 college education./Date: But I stay.../Re: because of how you smile at me every morning when you come in the door./Message: I secretly love you." With an additional comment added beneath: "In regards to the love lorn receptionist who stays in her job because of the guy's smile. I recently quit a position because I made a pro and con list after I was offered a new job. I realized that her smile was the only pro item I cared about on my list."
Like I mentioned in a comment on a previous secret, I guess love isn't always the most rational of motivations. I feel like if I were actually in a relationship with someone and that precluded finding a better job for some reason (would have to move away? etc) then maybe I would remain in the lesser job, but just being secretly in love with someone whose family owns the company while I'm a receptionist... not so compelling, for me. I wonder how many other people work in jobs that they only stay in because they're secretly in love with someone else at the workplace... maybe more than I might think?
"I wanted her so bad, until I saw her feet. Sorry." (with a drawing of ugly feet and hairy legs)
This reminds me of that one Seinfeld episode where there's a woman who has "man hands," which Jerry doesn't find appealing. Actually, apparently this occurs in multiple episodes.
"I gave my boyfriend a shoebox and asked him to decorate it so that when I broke up with him the next month I would have something to store his knicknacks in" (around a photo of a shoe)
This seems rather cold and calculating. And kind of twisted in a weird way too. Not something I would do.
"I wear [obscured] my right hand around my PARENTS... he's not my boyfriend... he's my fiance." (over a photo of a ring on a left hand)
I wonder why the parents would perhaps not approve of this person's fiance. Maybe they're a gay couple?
"I graduated from High School in 1967. So did the girl I love, she never knew. Now, 2 marriages, 1 war, and 40 years later, I can honestly say: 'There has not been a day in the last 40 years, that I have not thought of her with love and regret.'"
This sounds... rough.
"I still don't believe you love me." (written on a Tiffany & Co. receipt for a "Diamond by the Yard pendant" which cost $17300 plus tax for a total of $18748.88)
I really wonder how rich these people are. And why the secret writer still doesn't believe the other person loves her, even in light of this very extravagant purchase/gift.
"I was going to tell you/but then you left" (over a photo of a train at an outdoor station)
presumably the thing that was going to be said (but wasn't actually said) was related to love. I wonder what happened to these people? Did the secret writer ever end up telling the person whatever it was at some point in the future?
"I Don't Tell HIM But Flowers Are A WASTE"
Maybe this actually would be a good thing to share with the him referenced in this secret. Communication is everything, people.
"it's too soon, and you aren't going to ask. but, for the record, I would say, 'yes.'" (over an interesting illustration of two vultures next to the carcass of a bear; one vulture has the bear's heart in its beak, dripping with blood)
I thought the illustration was interesting.