When bonds of love prove just too tight

In case you thought that couples or spouses – not including you and your partner, of course – being confined in the same space for weeks on end during Covid restrictions is a recipe for disaster, think again. Ukrainian couple Alexander Kudlay and Viktoria Pustovitova had decided, on Valentine’s Day this year, to lock their lives together – literally. For 123 days, the two were inseparable after deciding to be chained together by their wrists – no, not as a crazy commitment to their love, but as an ‘experiment’ to see whether this would fix their problem of ‘recurrent break-ups’. Well, it didn’t. 33-year-old Kudlay and 29-year-old Pustovitova were not just together in sickness and in health, but also during toilet breaks, shopping sojourns (changing rooms and public bathrooms?) and each other’s gossip sessions.

That social distancing is a permanent necessity even between the closest of persons was demonstrated when the two couldn’t take it any more. They broke their bonds on Thursday. Interestingly, all plans to cohabit, never mind marry, have not only been shelved but junked. Familiarity may breed contempt, but such overfamiliarity had disaster written all over it. Moral of the story from Kiev: be close to your loved one. But don’t forget from time to time to have your healthy do gaz doori. It’ll make the heart grow fonder.