Thought for Food

The principle of the two fingers

My dad taught me long ago something very important about romantic love — or better said, attraction. It’s almost all you need to know (except to be true, be faithful, and be kind):

Two fingers.

It is a dance of attraction and repulsion, like magnets, best described with both pointer fingers. Left moves toward right, right moves farther right. Left gives up and goes back where she came from, and right’s curiosity is piqued. He follows. But lo! Left is not thrilled to finally have right’s attention. Oh no. Left moves farther left. Right only wants left more. Ad infinitum.

This certainly isn’t groundbreaking stuff, but it’s fundamental to understanding our love relationships, especially in the earlier/uncommitted stages, and it bears repeating. I invoke it so often that all my friends know it. “It’s the two fingers thing,” they say.

If you can grasp the two fingers, you’re one leap closer to understanding the behavior of the opposite/same sex. If you can harness the power of the two fingers, you are a lucky lover indeed.