By the way, I don’t feel any less sympathy for couples. They don’t like this shit, either! And I think they should stop having to address it. For awhile I might have asked colleagues if they had anything planned for the evening, but after seeing so many of them dramatically roll their eyes at the question, I stopped inquiring. I was afraid they’d get stuck that way. There’s nothing less romantic than the expectation of romance. I have enough married friends to know this for sure.