Red balloons and nauseatingly sweet pink nothings have been doing the rounds for as long as my memory permits me to remember at the moment. My sense of colour, I almost fear has been distorted permanently.

Love as they say is in the air and churning out mush that began as something dreaded has moved on to being almost mechanical.

It is that time of the year when all us single folk are greeted with a look as sympathetic as somebody who lost an arm would deserve. Companionship is at best seen as something that dictates permanence for human beings, leaving out in the process the possibility of such a state without it.

A typical harmless interaction with an acquaintance that begins with the 'What do you do?' can result in questions like 'When are you getting hooked or who were you seeing in the past?' At the mere mention of your unobtrusive singledom. And these truly can take the discussion into waters murkier than you'd rather delve into.

At this time of the year, single folk are greeted with a look as somebody who just lost an arm would deserve

Picture this, a home that resonates you and your habits in everything from your food, your furniture, linen all the way until your toothpaste. No lifted toilet seats, no abandoned boxers and absolutely nobody demanding the TV remote. I find everything exactly where I saw it last when I enter home after a day at work and get to clean just the amount of mess I have created. These are hardly the sort of things that can make one feel unsettled or any less permanent than you otherwise would in a rented apartment.

I have dated people in the past including one who considered himself relationship challenged and was nearly certain it was an actual ailment and another who believed a drink could resolve absolutely anything,u00a0 even global warming.