Inspired by This American Life

What’s a love life worth to someone?  To me, perhaps?

$20 for two movie tickets, $8 for popcorn & a soda, $4 for the round trip T ride.  Then another $30 for dinner afterwards. So $64 total. The movie is about what, two hours? a meal, an hourish.  So that’s about $21/hour for his time.

Stopping there, that seems a bit pricey.  Honestly, that costs more than what I earn hourly-ish.

But then take into account the time spent after that night.  We go home, fool around for another hour.  That winds down to about $15/hr.  Soaking in all the passion, the sweat, the short burst of cardio, that may be worth it.  Soon following, a sweet moment of cuddling.  Both currently living in the present, breathing in the smell of pheromones and cooling down.  A sense of satisfaction, accomplishment and a shit eating grin.  OK that could definitely be worth it.

Then time passes on.  Dates add up.  Money on time racks up, but the same level of satisfaction maintains.  Appreciation for each other wears down and now it’s $62 for 4 hours of fake time spent with each other.  The $15/hr isn’t returning the same outcome as before.

It starts to dwindle down, drifting apart.  And then it happens – the official parting.

Initially hours a day are spent upset over the lost relationship.  Opportunity cost lost.  The losses first are large, spending time alone rather than reaping the benefits of being out or being productive.  Time thought over the loss of the relationship dwindles down, maybe only one hour a day, then maybe a few minutes before the day starts with a quick reminder of waking up alone.  

In the end, the pain of the break up is enormous.  It adds up, lots of tolls on the mind and body.  It nearly outweighs that of the time spent enjoying each other.  One because the time spent in pain adds up, and two because of the zero chance of returning to the same nook that I cuddled in.  

The opportunity costs equal, or could very nearly outweigh the ‘investment’.  Why do people continue to jump back in the game when they very well know the possible ending will negate all that of the investment?

This is a very cold way of looking at relationships.

But really – is your time better spent elsewhere?