Photo by Nik Shuliahin on UnsplashSo lemme tell you the story of a hopeless romantic and before you ask, no… it’s not me. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve got quite a few stories of where I’ve been “taken fi eediat” but imma keep that on the low like when y’all cheat on your boyfriend’s. To tell you the truth, I did write a blog about an experience I had a few years back but that won’t be released until Man United win the league again so don’t expect it anytime soon. I’ve reread it like 3 times since and it always reminds me to take the hopelessness out of the romance. It also reminds me how infatuation will have you ignoring red flags.. in fact those flags could’ve been burgundy-ish crimsony-ish and I’d still have been none the wiser. I’ve got other unreleased blogs too but perhaps imma need to create a premium blogging site for that ish to be accessed, bruddah’s gotta eat right?
So the story is actually about someone I know and for convenience sake, let’s call him ‘Ed’. Whether Ed reads my blogs or not is another story entirely but I guess I’ll find out if he leaves my messages on blue ticks or not. So Ed is an ethnic minority, late thirties and a middle class professional. So I know what you’re thinking, “Ed ain’t no ethnic name”.. agreed but for some reason I don’t think ‘Alejandro’ will make the story flow well don’t you agree? Anyways, Ed met this lady at a social gathering and before you know it, things escalated. They start talking, going on dates and presumably a whole bunch of good stuff. The lady – ‘Sofia’ – doesn’t live in the UK, she’s from a non-UK country which I won’t disclose ‘cos I ain’t tryna be accused of anything. Sofia has to return back there but she and Ed agree to continue seeing each other long distance until Sofia gets the opportunity to return. Don’t get me wrong, I was sceptical about the whole ordeal but he told me he’s never felt this way about a woman before and he’s willing to make sacrifices to make it work. Sounds like a plan right? Wrong.
Ed went onto mention that Sofia’s parents were “a little racist” lol. How’re you quantifying racism bro? Are they chill Monday to Friday but racist on the weekends? Maybe they’re the subtle but oh so effective ‘stand by the door instead of sitting next to you on the train’ type racists? They got the racism trial package but yet to subscribe to the premium $14.99 monthly addition? Regardless of the extent, they didn’t approve of the relationship. To make things worse, all of her friends back home purchased the racism lite-edition too and equally disapprove of the situation. Did I mention Sofia is in her twenties? So we have a combination of racism, long-distance and a considerable age difference to factor in. At this point that red flag is looking very mahogany-ish but he’s refusing to step away despite openly knowing Sophia’s friends are trying to introduce her to other guys.
Ed recently returned from an ’emergency trip’ from Sofia’s home country and saw first-hand the issues he’s facing. “I’m preparing for the worst”, he said in a very dejected voice. Bro.. you didn’t have to be an oracle to predict that, I was preparing for the worst too. How many warning signs do you need before you realise something isn’t meant to be. Infatuation negates logic, there’s zillions of people on this planet yet you choose the one that makes you jump through hoops. It’s a marathon not a sprint, forcing a relationship should be an Olympic sport ‘cos some of y’all are competing for gold. And even if you can’t see the issues, I’m sure others can. As a wise man once said, “If you don’t hear you’ll feel instead”. I was told university relationships were a waste of time and I’m yet to be proven wrong since lol. Guys and girls, be smart with what you’re getting yourselves into, the world is too big to be settling. Be vigilant and look out for red flags, don’t be like Ed.
Joe
