by William Bowman

Created on: May 21, 2008   Last Updated: November 30, 2010

Long term.

What is it with people today and the complete lack of commitment? That applies to you as well, ladies. This is the modern age and I know for a fact that a number of you aren't above the occasional booty-call.

Personally, I chalk this lack up to self-centered intolerance. People are too full of themselves and their own plans and thoughts to find the necessary empathy for a good, long term relationship.

And it is good, people. Imagine having a sex life that only gets better as you get to know the other person better, physically and mentally. (This may mean you'll have to pay a little closer attention guys, sorry.) Imagine having someone going out of their way to please you - JUST BECAUSE. (Little notes, a favorite dinner, a back rub...te possibilities are endless.)Imagine a romantic, emotional attachment that only gets deeper with the passage of time.

I will admit that it takes work. It takes courage. It demands a willingness to make yourself emotionally vulnerable and also a willingness to put someone else's interests before your own. You have to listen. Not just occasionally, but almost constantly. And you have to make yourself heard - which can be quite an accomplishment sometimes.

But when you put in that work and so does the other person, it's a beautiful thing. Not quite like one of those soft-core porn books with the swooning girl hanging in the arms of some well-muscled man on the cover. But beautiful all the same. This is real life, folks. As real as it gets: The dynamics between people are still as much an intriguing mystery to us as they were a five hundred or a thousand years ago. This is why Chaucer and Shakespeare are still funny if you can wade through the antiquated English.

But let's look at the other side of this coin. Short term relationships have their own shortcomings and plenty of them.

Any fool can get a date, given enough persistence, and that same fool may well manage to have enough social interaction that he may well consider himself satisfied with his life relationship-wise.

And then things slow down for a moment for one reason or another. And that fool is suddenly aware of an ugly gap in is life. He may feel a bit irresponsible, depending on how he managed those relationships. Perhaps he may feel a bit immature. He may well decide to fill that gaping hole in his life with money, a demanding career, various recreational chemicals, hobbies, or any number of things.

But it'll still be there. And the person who might fill that gap will probably be scooped up by someone a little more clued-in about what's really important.

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