Sex and the Capital City
We Fought About: Why one Chicago couple is fighting the right way
Last week, Batkid wasn’t the only one getting some Internet love.
Chicago couple Claire Meyer and Alan Linic are two improv actors who met in March, set up a Twitter account in August and by September had moved in together. Pretty run-of-the-mill stuff. Except for their Twitter account. Now more than 150,000 people follow @wefoughtabout, the daily chronicle of the couple's arguments, from the mundane to the major.
And I love everything about it.
Every couple fights. In fact, if any couple you know tells you they don’t fight, they're either lying or they’re aliens. And so often, the source of a fight is something so ridiculous that if you step away from it for a moment and take stock, you’re almost embarrassed. But these two? They’re putting it all out there. Literally all of it.
From the always enjoyable presence of Harry Potter lore in their relationship:
Alan called my impersonation of Draco Malfoy "real bad".
— We Fought About: (@WeFoughtAbout) September 24, 2013To the occasional emotional moment:
Claire asked me if I was okay. I lied and said "yes."
— We Fought About: (@WeFoughtAbout) September 24, 2013To a totally justifiable reason to be angry:
Alan spilled water on me while I was trying to sleep.
— We Fought About: (@WeFoughtAbout) November 8, 2013They run the gamut. Sure, these people are actors, and the arguments are so chock-full of kitsch that at times it seems unbelievable, but I’m still on board. They never tweet before a fight is resolved, even if that means that a few days pass before it makes its way to the Internet. They field negativity from Internet trolls and live in fear of upsetting their grandparents —but don’t we all?
We document everything online. We can't eat a meal without posting to Instagram. If we didn't check in to a concert venue on Facebook, we might as well have stayed home. So why not take everything to the web? We're so comfortable talking about the cutesy stuff in our relationships, but why not get a little real?
So often, couples' spats get to a place where it’s hard to remember what the catalyst was. By analyzing at their fights to find the (hilarious) tipping point, these two are giving us all a run for our relationship money.
“I don't think I'm qualified to give anybody advice on anything other than places to eat," Alan told TODAY. "But I would encourage all couples to be honest with each other. … If it works for anyone to write their stuff down or tweet about it or scream it into a jar while holding hands, do it.”
Writing about my dating life, and ultimately my relationship, has been hugely cathartic. I’m thankful for this outlet, and being able to candidly share my neuroses and occasional tribulations is something I would never trade. But sometimes, you just have to make fun of yourself. And this couple nails it.