Funny Side-Up - "A White Valentine"

I'm asking the world a heartfelt question, “do you buy spotless white clothes?” As a matter of personal choice, like most things, I love them. But again, as a matter of personal sense, like most things, I stay away from them.
My first encounter with a spotless white shirt had me smitten. Expensively smitten. I wore it quite a few times in the same week. I felt blessed. I was happy, cheerful, beautiful (well) and i was in love. Love for the clothes has an effect of wanting to add onto it – in the form of matching foot wear and other accessories. As the love story blossomed, i was growing with inner joy, rather – glowing with it. With all this love, came security. I thought i would have the white clothes forever – it would last, until death did us apart, or too many washes in the washing machine – whichever came first.
I knew that with love came commitment. I was to be committed to keeping the white clothes well, protecting it from external factors like “wardrobe stealers”, “over sharp cloth hangers”, “fungus”, “bad ironers”, “harsh soap powders”. I did all of this and the saga continued. One thing that the mind skipped was protecting it from “external colors”. And as the lay reader, none of this makes sense to you. But look inside your washing buckets closely, some clothes lose color and some gain it from them. I had, in a moment of laziness, thrown all the clothes together into the same bucket, including the white shirt.
The next day brought with it heart break. My spotless white expensive shirt was now stained with yellow patches. In blind concern, I scrubbed it with the brush, put the “always trust so-and-so soap to remove stains” powder on it, let it soak. I cried, I begged for forgiveness, I asked the gods to be merciful. But nothing worked. I still am in the process of healing from this. Nothing seemed to make an impact. I asked for help from external quarters – dry cleaners. Nope, no amount of dry cleaning removed the stain.
Today, when I see plain white clothes, it reminds me of what I had and what I lost. I am devastated from the episode. All that taking care of, all the effort into the whole process seems a waste. I mean, one small mistake – and everything shatters. And whenever I hear Jennifer Lopez sing “Love don't cost a thing” - I beg to differ, having learnt from my recent experience. I say “love costs something and damage repair costs much more”.

Wish you a life of colorful clothing. May the whites wait for a period where we have better cleaning agents.