All You Want Is Love and Affection

Inspiration - "Eric B is President" - Eric B. and Rakim - First you said all you want is love and affection/Let me be your angel and I'll be your protection/Take you out, buy you all kinds of things/I must have got you too hot and burned off your wings/You caught an attitude, you need food to eat up/I'm scheming like I'm dreaming on a couch wit my feet up/You scream I'm lazy, you must be crazy/Thought I was a donut, you tried to glaze me

What I'm Listening To - "Stunts, Blunts, and Hip Hop" - Diamond D and the Psychotic Neurotics. I had to pull this out after hearing the 2 versions(Busta Rhymes and Talib Kweli & Jean Grae) of "NY Sh*t" that use the same sample from "I Went For Mine"

Question(s) I Asked Myself - "Is gas really $3.03?" That shit is ridiculous, man!

I went to the grocery store late last night. I specifically waited so late because I didn't feel like being around people while I shopped. My hope was that there would only be a few people in the store with me and I could get in, get out and go about my business. I went in, got my shopping cart and since I needed everything, started going up and down the aisles throwing stuff in the buggy. When I got to the cereal aisle, I noticed a couple in front of me shopping. What struck me about them was the look in their eyes. They seemed to be genuinely happy and in love. In fact they looked like they were going to tear each others clothes off right there in the grocery store. It was pretty cute. I can't be mad at young Black love (at least I think they were Black. They might have been Dominican, but that's close enough.)

After picking up my Cinnamon Toast Crunch, I quickly left that aisle and continued my shopping. A few minutes later, the young couple were in the same aisle as me again. This time I noticed, that the woman was walking behind the man and had her hand in his back pocket, while he was pushing the cart. I was thinking to myself, "what's up with the PDA?", but I kept it moving. The next time I saw them was in the milk and juice aisle. The woman was sitting on the shopping cart, legs open while her boyfriend pushed the cart. She was leaning forward, hugging him and playing in his fro. It wasn't sexual or anything, but they were just all lovey dovey at Kroger. It wasn't cute anymore... it kinda made me sick.

I gave that background to ask this question. How do you feel about public displays of affection (PDA)? I think I have mixed feelings about it. I'm usually not the type to be overly affectionate in public like that but I have to admit that I have sometimes fallen victim to the allure of the PDA. Let me give you a few examples from my past. I wonder how you would handle these situations. I'll tell you what I did later today.

Scenario 1 - I was in a relationship with this girl awhile back. We'll call her Anna. She was a lot like me in that she wasn't big on the public displays of affection. She knew I was with her and I knew she was with me and that was enough. Anyway, we used to double date with my homeboy Kareem and his girl. Kareem's girl was one of those touchy feely types and couldn't keep her hands off of him. It was sickening. I felt like George Costanza in the Shmoopy episode of Seinfeld. It got so bad, that Anna and I didn't want to hang with them anymore. What would you do?

Scenario 2 - I was dating Stalker #2. For those who don't remember that story, she was waaaaaay more into me than I was into her. She wanted to be up under me at all times and that just annoyed the hell out of me. One day, we were in Wal Mart and she grabbed my hand and held on tight like a vice grip. I kept trying to sneak my hand back to no avail; she wasn't having it. I wasn't trying to be hugged up around people like that, so I had to do something. How would you stop this unwanted public display of affection?

Scenario 3 - In this scenario, I was a sucka for love. I was doing all the typical things that couples do when they are in love. For the one of the few times in my life, I wasn't afraid to show emotions and affectionate behavior. We were much like that couple I saw in the store. No matter where we were, we would be touching, kissing, hugging. Then it hit me that we were one of those PDA couples that make people sick. What should I do? Should I continue doing what I was doing or dial it back a bit?

Those are my scenarios. I'll let you know what I did later this afternoon. I'm also interested to know how you act when you are in a relationship. Do you reserve your affection for the privacy of your home or do you let the whole world see? Let's make this interactive people. Don't be afraid to share. LOL.

It was written...