Crowd of Strangers = Romance!

I was waiting to get into a show at the Hayden Planetarium this weekend (that's right the Hayden Planetarium!) and while we were in the little pre-show holding area, the usher calls for everyone's attention and asks "Dawn" to step forward. Then this other guy joins Dawn at the front of the room and gives this speech:
"My girlfriend Dawn and I have been dating for a few years and she says I never do anything romantic...so I wanted to do this today. (pause) Will you marry me?"

I've never actually seen a public proposal before, and I kind of hope I never see one again. It's more awkward than uplifting. And it's creepy to be forced to witness what's normally a private moment. And, not to be mean, but this one just didn't deserve an audience. I still can't figure out what was supposed to be romantic about his proposal. Maybe they were both astronomers... or maybe he had a lifelong fear of public speaking and this was a monumental and touching breakthrough for him.

But most likely, though, he just did the math and saw that hiring a gospel choir or trained doves, or getting a gross of long stem roses is all, uh, expensive. And the cheapest shorthand for romance is just doing something in front of crowd of strangers. The underlying message of his speech wasn't "You think I'm unromantic, but check THIS out," so much as "You think I'm unromantic...uh, wanna marry me anyway?"

So yeah, no one really wants someone else's private moments forced down their throats - pointed out the guy writing a blog.