Love at First Sight…….

September 8, 2009 by Jason Shaw

Phew, I’ve just come to then end of another night shift and it’s been a night where every single hour seemed like two! And, I wondered if there could be any more that 24 hours in the day? Why oh why when you’re watching the clock during working time those ticking hands rotate at half speed, yet if it’s your leisure time they practically spin themselves off going so fast!

During those long dark night hours, we tried to make up songs about the place that is called work, now I don’t claim to be a wordsmith or a clever lyricist, so my addition to the collective collaboration was simply – “I think this office, is like an orifice on the lower portions of a hippopotamus” OK, so perhaps I shouldn’t give up the day job, or should that be night job?

During lunch, I came back home and popped a DVD of Sex And The City to while away our hour of freedom. It was one of the shows where someone was getting married to someone else after only knowing them a couple of days, love at first sight and it’s got me thinking. Is there such a thing as love at first sight?

I asked David, a work collegue and his reply was a firm, vehement, No! A no messing, no nonsense. non confusing no. Rach alslo from the office gave an equally strong no. I’ve just spoken to Jake and he says yes, hurrah for romance!

What is Love at first sight? Well according to the internet equivalent of the font of all knowledge, otherwise known as, Wikipedia, Love at first sight is an emotional condition whereby a person feels romantic attraction for a stranger on the first encounter with the stranger. The term may be used to refer to a mere sexual attraction or crush, but it usually refers to actually falling in love with someone literally the very first time one sees him or her, along with the deep desire to have an intimate relationship with that person. The stranger may or may not be aware that the other person has any such notion, and may not even be aware of the other person’s presence (such as in a crowded place). Sometimes two people experience this phenomenon towards each other at the same time, usually when their eyes meet.

If you ask me, I’d love to believe in love, I like the idea of romance, of the whole possibility that you can, possibly see that one person that you instantly know you want to spend the rest of your days with. You know what I’m talking about, the one person that presses all your buttons, that lights all your fuses, that ignites the fire within? As I say, I’d like to believe that you can see them, just once and know it’s them, but I think sometimes those four letter words that both begin with L that often go together yet have completely different meanings. I am of course referring to love and lust and when then collide it can be fatal!

Love at first sight, I so want to believe, when I started writing this, my mind travellers back a few years to a time in a smoke clouded Revenge nightclub here in Brighton. I was walking through the lower floors bar with my pals DB and Dan, when all of a sudden walking in the opposite direction was a single young lad, around my height, dark hair, wide eyes and a strange yet intriguing smile, our eyes met as we passed by each other. One, two, three I turned around at the same split second he did, humpty humpty hump went my heart. However, my friends we still walking toward the bar and he toward the dance floor and I thought ‘what a cute guy’ Drinks were consumed and dances were danced – with my friends. Then, we took a troll upstairs and suddenly as we were walking toward the dance floor walking toward the bar…..yep, you’ve guessed right, that boy again, we smiled, we passed, one, two, three we turned at the same time. Was it love at first sight or was it lust? This time, we walked towards each other, no words were spoken but our lips came together, as our lips parted and our tongues met each other our hands explored each others backs and arses. We broke this snog and smiled at each other and then, parted again.

I never did get to bed with that boy, although we’ve snogged each other many times on numerous nights after that first electrical meeting, we never took it to the next level. I have no idea if what I saw that first time in Revenge was love or lust, I can’t tell, I don’t know. But, what I do know is, I have not forgotten that boy, I’ve often thought of him, I’ve often wondered about him, I’ve dreamt about him, I’ve not met him again, but he still controls a part of my heart and mind, and perhaps my very being. Whenever I hear the phrase ‘love at first sight’ I think with a smile crossing my lips, I think of that night in Revenge when I saw him ‘that boy’ now known to my friends as ‘cap-boy’; for the very first time and I wonder was it love at first site?

It’s up to you now, is there such a thing as love at first sight? Does it really happen? If so, who does it really happen to?