Spectator by Seema Goswami: Must we all join the fray?

In the olden times when a couple —married or otherwise — broke up it was hard to tell. So you had these embarrassing moments when you ran into an old friend at a party and cheerily asked about his or her partner. Cue, awkward silence. Actually, the sheepish response would come, we are no longer together. Cue, more awkward silence. Then you made a few embarrassed remarks and quickly moved on to spread the word so that nobody else in the party had to undergo the same excruciating experience.