Alright, Sex and the City Folk, let’s spill the tea: throw a stone only if you’ve never been hit with a breakup text or – clutch my pearls! – been the heartbreaker behind the screen. If you’ve never been there, either you’ve been out of the dating scene since flip phones (jealous much?) or you’ve snagged a gem of a partner (good for you, unicorn hunter!). But for the rest of us navigating the messy world of modern love, the breakup text is just another Tuesday.
In “Sex and the City,” several episodes stand out as iconic, each earning its own shorthand reference, like “the Rabbit one,” “the anal one,” and “the Hamptons one.” Among these is “the Post-it one,” from season six.
For those unfamiliar, in this episode, Carrie Bradshaw finds herself dumped via a Post-it note left by her fleeting beau, Berger. The note read, “I’m sorry. I can’t. Don’t hate me.”
That episode aired in 2003, long before the widespread use of smartphones and dating apps. Back then, it highlighted the impersonal nature of a breakup via a hastily scribbled note, emphasizing Berger’s thoughtlessness.
However, when contrasted with today’s dating norms, like ghosting or breakup texts at odd hours, that Post-it almost seems quaint, even romantic.
While breaking up on paper is no doubt cowardly, it involves more effort than the now all-too-common late-night breakup text. A Post-it provides tangible evidence of a past relationship. It’s a memento. Even if a sad one. Mementos tend to be like that, bittersweet or just sad.
It’s a relic, something you can tear, keep, or discard as you see fit. A text, on the other hand, remains digital, impersonal, and easily forgotten.
Although technology has its merits, it hasn’t prevented the callousness exhibited by partners, even during breakups. Carrie, with her occasional skepticism about technology, still endured her share of painful relationships.
However, that little yellow note from Berger might have been her most tangible breakup souvenir. At least, among the heartbreak, it gave her a story and a memory – of the night she got arrested.
Carrie : Ooh, hear that? It’s midnight, the official end to what will now be known as the day I got arrested for smokin’ a doobie. [giggling uncontrollably]
“Smokin’ a doobie”, if I’m being honest, is more cringey than the actual Post-it note, by today’s standards anyways.
What do you think? Is it time to take Berger out of terrible fictional boyfriends’ jail?