And they call it puppy love | Bangkok Post: opinion

THINKBOX

A friend of mine once told me that St Valentine's Day, for single women (not so much for single men), is when holiday and hell cross over. Everywhere you go, you see couples professing undying love, carrying big, overpriced bouquets. Restaurants are packed and full of lovey-dovey couples. Even little kids put heart stickers on their friends' shirt to show some love. What's a single woman to do? Panic, panic!

It is one thing for women my age (very, very late twenties) to fret about being single. It is quite another for 4-year-olds to cry because they are not ''taken'' by their love interest. This is a true story from my own mother's experience when she visited a salon near my house, the day some newspapers ran the news about actor Naded Kukimiya visiting a girl who had a heart disease and miraculously survived when he visited her (or when some great cardiologist saved her life, but who is he to take the credit?).

A 4-year-old girl who lives in that area came to play in the salon as usual, and the owner of the salon presented her with the news, knowing she ''loves'' Naded. Upon seeing the picture of Naded with the little survivor, this girl cried, shook her head disbelievingly and said, ''How could Pi Naded do this to me? Why did he take photos with other girls? He broke my heart!'' She then ran home in tears to tell her mother about this utmost betrayal by her ''boyfriend'' _ the unknowing Naded.