@JoshuaDolin
“Why do they have to do that?” I asked Maggie last week while we were walking to class. “Is it really necessary for everyone in a relationship to snuggle up into each other and vertically cuddle while they walk?”
“It’s one thing to like each other,” Maggie said. “But I mean let’s at least keep a constant pace! Cuddling should not interfere with walking.”
Now that it’s getting colder, people in relationships have begun to hold each other even closer. Maybe it’s for body warmth, but most likely it’s because they are happily in love and this is the romantic season.
“If New Mexico freezes over, the single people will die first because no one wants to cuddle with us,” I said to Maggie. “I can’t help but think that this is how Gretchen Wieners felt when no one gave her a candy cane.”
It’s the last week of class this semester before winter break.
This means it’s time to wear cute sweaters, meet friends at Starbucks and watch 25 Days of Christmas on ABC Family.
If you are in a relationship, this means it might also be time to take your significant other home to meet your family, introduce them to old friends and take them ice-skating on a romantic hot cocoa-filled evening.
If you are single, this means it is time to go home and get repeatedly asked by relatives if you are in a relationship. And once they have added salt to that proverbial wound, and when you remind them that you are still single, you can continue to drink away your loneliness with eggnog.
This is my first holiday season spent single in while. So instead of spending the holidays with a boyfriend this year, I will be spending it with Pinot, Merlot and One Direction.
Ashley on the other hand, will be spending the holidays with a boy this year. Chase is an attractive sophomore at Texas A&M whom Ashley met on Tinder when he was back in Albuquerque for Thanksgiving.
“This is the first guy I have liked in a long time!” Ashley said during our Geography class. “He is blonde, tall, muscular and dominant. Everything I need!”
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After talking on Tinder for a few days, the two decided to meet at a party where Chase took care of Ashley and all of her friends.
And ever since that night, the two have been texting non-stop.
“Chase texts me first everyday, just like a man should,” Ashley said. “This Christmas I am going to spend doing romantic stuff with him. We are going to go ice skating, to the movies, to the top of the Sandia Mountains and he even wants to introduce me to his family.”
It seems as though Ashley is going to have the romantic Christmas break that we all dream about, but instead spend alone listening to Mariah Carey’s holiday album.
“So if we each were a Christmas movie, you would be ‘Miracle on 34th Street,’ and I would be ‘Home Alone,’” I said to her. “But the good news is that there will be new people on Tinder and maybe I can meet someone new over break.”
If you are traveling for the holidays, or even just staying here, make sure to charge up your phone because you are bound to match with all new people on the social dating app.
Ashley just met Chase on it a few weeks ago and he is already planning his break around time to see her, so you just never know what could happen. It could be a Christmas miracle.
Even Alice has a boyfriend to spend Christmas with this year, and she even plans to introduce him to her family.
“My mom asked me when she’s going to meet Bill, so I think that is what I want for Christmas — my parents to accept my boyfriend,” she said.
One thing Ashley, Alice and I all agreed we wanted was time spent together watching Disney movies. “Even if you have a boyfriend, time spent with friends is the best part of Christmas,” Alice said.
And unless Andrew Garfield can be wrapped up and put under a Christmas tree with some J. Crew dresses, Aurora just wants to see friends from home and drink apple cider over break.
“I literally have no opinion on Christmas relationships,” Aurora said. “I just want to watch ‘The Family Stone’ five times and then go to law school.”
And then there is Collette who used to want nothing more than a relationship, and is actually happy being single this year for the holidays.
“Christmas break will give me some much needed me-time and allow me to spend time with the most important people in my life — my family and friends,” Collette said. “And I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Maggie views Christmas break as a time to catch up on important things as well. “Well I just got Bioshock and the new Tomb Raider game, so I will probably be playing those during break,” she said.
“We don’t have boyfriends the rest of the year, so I don’t understand why Christmas makes it more obvious,” Maggie said.
I can ask for J. Crew, Louis Vuitton and Burberry for Christmas, but I will never be able to fill the void of having a boyfriend.
Because what we all want for Christmas is to be loved. We all dream about walking around the River of Lights holding onto someone special or skiing with them during the break.
Christmas is about sharing. Sharing joy, sharing peace and sharing love. So if you have someone special, make sure to share all of those with them for the holidays.
Mariah Carey says that her wish for Christmas is to have her dream man. But if I am going to be alone for Christmas this year, does that mean I have to be the Grinch? Or can this time spent with friends be even better?
If we are single, can this time of the year still be ‘a wonderful life’? Is it possible to walk in a winter wonderland alone? And will there be joy in the world if some of us are not in love? The real question for all of us spending Christmas alone this year is this: Will my sleigh bells still #JingleWhenImSingle?
All I want for Christmas is…
Josh: A gingerbread latte from a cute boy, or One Direction
Ashley: To never see Chase in cowboy boots
Alice: To have parents accept Bill
Collette: Family, “me time” and Tory Burch flats
Aurora: Friends from home and a chic bag from Madewell
Maggie: The new Tomb Raider game for Xbox 360
#RelationshipStatus
#JingleWhenImSingle
