Tingle Says: Love is Real

I’m tagging along on my partner’s work trip.

The best part of being on someone else’s work trip is that you get to sleep in, hang out in the room, and I guess, worry that the unexpectedly timed Barnes and Noble shipment of Chuck Tingle books will be left in the rain. (Luckily, these are unfounded worries – I’m sure the package will be delivered to the mailbox.)

But I can’t help it, I’m just so excited to get some tinglers. I’m not a romance reader, usually, but if you’ve heard Tingles’ titles before, you know how intriguing they are.

Clearly irrelevant, but, on a basic level, I gotta know: does the text honor the title? To give you an idea of where my curiosity comes from, one of the books is a political thriller romance, and on the cover is a buff man with a dinosaur head and an American flag in the background. I won’t share the title.

But it wasn’t the book’s cover or even its crazy title that made me buy; it was Tingle’s Facebook page. It is so incredibly wholesome. And maybe I’m missing something but, like, where does Tingle get off being so gosh darn positive?

It’s “love this” and “love that”; it’s supportive and kind. So, what’s with that? In this economy!?

Who can feel like love’s gonna save the day right now? Especially when Tingles’ posts are followed by some headline, some content, that proves people are motivated by self-interest and willing to hurt people for it – usually for no gd reason. (It’s pretty clear to me at this point that for many, it comes from a place of not understanding the benefits of loving people. Like, truly not understanding – in their brain. Sorry saps. What a disability.)

But then I realize, Chuck Tingle knows a very important thing about humans that is easy to forget. Love feels good. It feels good on the skin, and it feels good to be around people who feel loved.

And I think people will come around to remembering this. In the meantime, I’m going to explore the wacky world of Chuck Tingle, and we’ll see if the books hold up to Tingle’s Facebook page. Sure, hope so.