However! There’s one type of meet cute I absolutely despise, and unfortunately it’s the most popular one. It occurs with astonishing regularity in both novels and movies, and every time I see it, it makes me cringe. Lately, I’ve been DNFing any book or show where it happens, although I am finishing a romance currently that has one of these annoyances because it’s for my book club.
Have you guessed what it is?
It’s the clumsy, spill some food/ beverage or a bag of groceries meet cute where one of the protagonists (and almost invariably the woman) trips and dumps out her coffee or whatever and the hero naturally has to help her clean it up. Then she is super embarrassed while he stays calm and helpful. If it’s a bag of groceries, some feminine product will be on display to make everything even more awkward. Ughhh. I hate this so much!
Yes, I have used it, but that was a long time ago before I decided it was way overused and awful. Lazy writing! And I have been a lazy writer at times, especially when I write to prompts in a hurry. That’s another reason why I am sticking to my vow of not writing any new fiction or poetry unless I feel it’s good.
Do meet cutes ever happen in real life? I mean, I meet a guy, I give him a good hug, leave half my face on his white shirt, and he says not to worry - his wife will get it out. (Couldn't do anything about the wife but I did stop wearing so much make-up.)
ReplyDeleteGood question! I’ve never had one…
ReplyDeleteI had one meet cute involving a blind date I never went on but met her anyway at a party--but mostly it was near-miss-cutes. One I actually kind of regret, when I was working at a gas station one snowy night just before Christmas. A young lady came in, got $1 worth of gas in her volkswagen and then proceeded to scrape ice off the inside of her windshield, because the heater in her car didn't work. I went out and helped her and she noticed I didn't have gloves (it was real cold.) I told her I just put my hands in my jacket pockets when I didn't need them. She left and maybe a half hour later returned and handed me a paper bag with something in it. I looked. Mittens! By this time she was at the door. I said thanks, looked down, and she was gone. For weeks I was on the alert for a yellow Volkswagen. Nope.
ReplyDeleteThat’s a great NMC!! Maybe she was a ghost, like in a Steven King short story. Did you check the nearby cemetery?
ReplyDelete