False Expectations...

I have a love/hate relationship with "chick flicks." I love them because who doesn't love a happy ending and seeing people hopelessly in love? However, I hate them because they give false expectations for love and relationships in the real world. I'm not saying people can't have their own "fairy tale endings," but come on! How many people really get that?

The reason I bring this up is because a guy I used to date was in town on business and only here for a few days. We had made plans to meet up after his business dinner the first night he was in town, but things were taking longer than he expected. No problem. I would never expect someone to not attend or leave a work function early for a casual get together. Since we didn't get to meet up that night, we agreed to meet up the next night. We made plans for him to come check out my apartment and then head over to a bar nearby that we always used to go to. However, him coming over turned into having to go to an event after his conference and then taking his co-workers out for dinner.

I'm not going to lie, I was bummed. I sat on my couch watching TV and thought, "Maybe he'll call later and tell me to buzz him in because he's outside and wanted to surprise me." And then I thought, "You fool! That type of thing only happens in movies." And I was right. He never showed up to surprise me.

I think chick flicks and romance movies are great to get you out of reality for a moment. I also think they can make you more optomistic about things. However, they're also a real let down when you realize your average Joe Schmo probably isn't going to turn out to be Prince Charming or be as passionate as Noah from The Notebook...