I recently stumbled across Romantimatic (www.romantimatic.com) – a new smartphone app that reminds you to send sweet nothings to your other half during the day. The app even features template messages for those who are simply too busy to type out the copy heavy message ‘I Love You.’

So the question is: why the need? The people behind Romantimatic say that “Even with the amazing technology we have in our pockets, we can fly through the day without remembering to send a simple “I love you” to the most important person in our lives.”

Hmmm.

I don’t know if it’s just me, but I find this incredibly unromantic and sad. Sure, we have reminders for birthdays, appointments, meetings, rent renewals and the like, but now we also need a reminder to tell our significant other, or any other member of our family for that matter, that we love them? I fear that in the not too distant future we’ll need an app to remind ourselves of when we need to empty our bowels. I’m just too busy to poop, you know?

I understand the sentiment of the app; Greg Knauss, the guy behind Romantimatic, reportedly created it after he realised he was too wrapped up in his work to always remember to tell his wife that he loves her. But I feel this is just another symptom of our fast-paced, ‘I’m just too busy to have real, meaningful relationships’ society.

How can it be that we’re too busy to tell those closest to us that we love them? It takes less than a minute to send a message that will make someone’s day. How is it that work has become more important than our relationships – romantic or otherwise? It’s simply WRONG that we don’t have the time to remember to tell someone that we love them.

I don’t blame people as such. I blame society and the impossible demands it puts on us. We’re taught from a young age that money equals success; we also have the misfortune to be living in an era of global recession and limited opportunities. What this has led to is a not so enviable work environment, where we feel the need to work longer and harder just to keep our jobs.

You’d think that work culture would be evolving and becoming better as time goes by, but I fear that it’s becoming the opposite. I came across a recent study that says workplace flexibility is still just a myth (http://www.psypost.org/2014/03/workplace-flexibility-still-a-myth-for-most-23745), for example. One quotation says: “We have come to realise how important it is for employers to offer different types of flexibilities so that employees and their supervisors have some choice and control over when, where and how much they work.”

Unfortunately, it seems that that just isn’t the case. I can safely say that I only know one person who has a fairly flexible job. The rest are chained to their desks, day in and day out, with four measly weeks holiday a year to look forward to. Yes, they’re the people who are too busy to say I love you.

The answer, however, isn’t an app that reminds you to tell your partner that you love her/him. The answer is to work less hours and, in turn, have more time for real human connection. But with that still seemingly out of reach, for now we will have to make do with sweet nothings sponsored by Romantimatic

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