Forgotten Taboos

A couple posts ago, I mentioned how it seems that former lovers tend to not dwell on the fact that yes, we were, in fact, lovers some time ago. It comes as a shock to them if I ever mention anything pertaining to that fact.

I flew into Los Angeles today, and pretty much from the get-go, I met up with one of my exes. She happens to hold the record for longest relationship yet in my life. She moved to California two years ago and doesn't regret one bit the decisions she has made. Or that we made in terms of our relationship some four or five years ago. Neither do I, really. It's good that we chose to do what we did.

But it still comes as a shock to me when people know nothing about me when it comes to her. I met some of her friends on our way to a loft party in downtown LA. We all hit it off splendidly. At the party, one of these people asked, "So, how did you two meet?" I said, "Oh, we dated for two and a half years." They stopped dancing, their eyes got wide, and they said, "REALLY?! I didn't know that. Two years?!" They left to go talk to her.

I laughed and started talking with a man who happens to be a conceptual artist for the Guitar Hero franchise. Lots of interesting things going on in that realm . . . top secret plans . . .

Left to my own devices while crashing on a couch, I thought about the difference between me and the former lovers I've had. Why do all of my friends know about my past? Why do their friends know nothing about their past? Does it hurt to think about what we were? I doubt it.

Is it a sign that I should keep my trap shut regarding my past and just traipse along in the present, looking forward to the future? I doubt that, too.

I guess it doesn't matter. Maybe I should just take pleasure in seeing the reactions people have when they ask "How did you two meet?"

I'll settle with that.

Thao Nguyen -- "Beat (Health, Life, Fire)"