DOMS PAGLIAWAN

Bloggers would do everything they can just to produce content that attracts viewers, even if it harms people in the process and causes relationships to fall apart. Such content is posted usually on Facebook for viewers to feast on, gathering varied reactions.

In certain countries of Latin America where kissing in public is perhaps a normal sight, there are these bloggers who are drawing large viewership. The blogger would have someone or a group of guys with him, then they go around offering money usually to strolling couples in exchange for kisses with his companion/s.

Sometimes, bidding is done. If the couple being enticed rejects the offer right away, they look for some more else. If they notice that the couple is merely hesitant, the blogger keeps increasing the amount until it becomes too tempting to decline. In this case, the girl is usually the one who gives in, even helping the blogger convince her man.

Why? It’s easy money for her, so to speak! She simply joins a passionate, kissing action with a man, and there it is—a huge amount to get. It doesn’t even take a minute, just seconds, usually.

But it’s not that easy on the part of her lover, boyfriend, or husband. Jealousy creeps in. It’s indeed not a good sight for him; it hurts! And most of the time, the man loses control of himself as an onlooker—he intervenes, acting like a referee in a boxing or wrestling match. If the kissing tandem already melts into a tender, loving embrace, with the man’s hands now exploring the woman’s body, her lover frantically tries to stop the scene.

This results in a commotion—the lover trying to pull them apart, but the tandem still insisting to continue, as if they are not yet contented and done, as though they enjoy the action. This, to many, is a funny scene. It’s like playing with the lover’s emotions while he is overwhelmed with jealousy, love, and hatred. This lover, who can’t stand what he sees, is seemingly putting off a flame that has just erupted.

The result, of course, is a heated argument between the original couple that escalates into an explosive quarrel. The man usually storms away in anger, rejecting the lady’s attempts to appease him. Never do these couples leave harmoniously; they normally end up in a disaster. There are cases when the man wildly leaves by himself, and the girl, rejected in her efforts at reconciliation, simply goes away with her kissing buddy, holding hands with him. What a pity. What a way to destroy love relationships.

And who earns the most? It’s the blogger, of course, who can eventually monetize large viewership. Now you might ask me why I am watching these episodes. Well, I do so for me to be able to write about it and expose it. I simply don’t like the idea of putting two lovers at war, knowing that it hurts, from experience.