Dearest Readers,

Here is my gripe.

I hear it everwhere. I hear it when I stroll down the New York sidewalks, I hear it when I am grocery shopping, I hear it when I go catch the latest flick. It is the sweethearts trinity, "I love you."

What is my beef with this innocent little phrase? I have none. My problem is that the phrase is thrown around as casually as a frisbee tossed on a Sunday afternoon. Its over usage, has made it as hackneyed as "Curiosity killed the cat."

Their are two main suspects in snowballing the triteness of "I love you."

1. I-love-you as abracadabra- The main perpetrator of this are the males of the species. They utter the "I love you" phrase to their girlfriend/ fiancee/ crush/ babysitter...the list goes on. But point being, they try to use it as a verbal magic wand, hoping that as soon as they wave it around...That *Poof! Abracadabra! Their companion's clothes have disappeared and she wants to be more primal and raw than Sigfried and Roy's tigers.

2. I-love you as I-hope-I-will-love you- Our culture has romanticized and glamorized the notion of unconditional love so much, that our dear citizens have fallen in love with the idea of falling in love. Bear with me here, people want to be in "love" like "Noah and Allie in 'The Notebook'". They have been deluded with the common misconception that being in love entails a happily ever after so they push themselves to locate this love. The first method to this affect, is saying, "I love you." to whomever they happen to be with at the moment, hoping that they will eventually mean it in time and achieve that fairytail ending.

So what is the big deal if people say, "I love you." without really meaning it? Well, those love-wannabees out there might actually feel a genuine no holds barred unconditional love someday, and may find that their past false utterances have made their tounge notorious. In other words, just as you shouldn't cry wolf, you shouldn't cry love...or you will probably be the one crying in the end...

The choice is of course, yours my friends... "I love you or I love you not." But please, think twice!

Respectfully Yours,

Ray Dylan