“Look at that sweater,’’ he said, grabbing her around the waist. “It’s so corny, it’s awesome!’’
He planted a kiss on the side of her neck.
The two met at Occupy. They had known each other for 11 days. They had been a couple for three.
“Everyone was like, dude, you guys should get together,’’ Stitham said.
Karasik nodded, grinning goofily. She had not been looking for anyone to date when she came to the camp. But time runs more slowly at Occupy Boston. After a few days of knowing Red - that’s what she calls him, because of his hair - she felt as if he was one of her closest friends. “He’s, like, the first real person I’ve met in a long time,’’ she said.
Karasik and Stitham are one of many couples who forged a bond at Occupy. It was not long until Occupiers were stealing kisses at the food tent, holding hands during general assemblies, cuddling on the bench near the Gandhi statue.
But now, after the end of the encampment, which lasted a little more than two months, those who found love among the tents are struggling to keep the flame alive.
Dewey Square was not the only encampment where romance bloomed. A couple who met at Occupy Wall Street tied the knot in Zuccotti Park.
For these young adults - a generation whose romantic interactions usually involve a labyrinth of texting and sexting and flirtation-tinged Facebook status updates - romance at Occupy Boston, they said, seemed much realer.
Karasik said she doubts the two would have embarked on a romance without the intimate precincts of Dewey Square.
“Say you meet someone at Starbucks,’’ she explained. “You’re not just going to go up to them and start hugging them and swinging them around and stuff in the middle of the Starbucks. There’s a lot of social restraints, but at Occupy, everyone’s very, like, free.’’
“And walking around barefoot, playing hula hoop, and playing a guitar with only four strings on it,’’ Stitham interjected.
“And it’s all about expressing yourselves and stuff,’’ Karasik continued. “I think that’s a huge part of why it did jump off so fast.’’
