PDA

It is a rather well-known...idea (I'm not sure if I would call it a fact) that Western culture is more relaxed on the idea of public display of affection, than that of the East.  I would say that, here, I have observed this many times.  I would also say that it is a more prominent idea with the Northern cultures--that the more Southern they are, the more open they are.  We could say that in the West as well.

Many times here, mostly in cafes, where I sit way too many times to do work, I get to observe the interactions of the different cultures that stream into this juncture of international highway.  I have found that local couples actually love to become...cozy.  They love to consider themselves romantics.  This trait I can see more and more every day.  Very often couples will sit beside each other if they can, not across the table from each other.  Even a quick glance will catch the man's arm around the woman, one hand caressing another hand, or even a few public kisses.

This morning I shared an empty cafe floor with a young couple, college-age.  It was fortunate for both parties that there was a wall placed in the center of the room, between us.  A couple times, as I glanced up from my busy screen, I noticed that their heads were moving closer and closer together.  No surprise, the next time I looked up, their lips were interlocked, their bodies as well.  No sooner as I let my glance drop back to my screen, a smirk on my face ('Aww, how cute!' I was thinking), a server walked through the room.  I looked over to the couple, to see if their cover had been blown.  They were sitting back, flushed, like caught teenagers.  I couldn't help but smile again.  Poor kids, I remember those times from long ago.

Wait?  Long ago?  ;-)

Stories are not so much meant for retelling, as they are for ideas to create new ones.

What story would you like to make yours?

:-)