Love, American-Style Meets
Dumping, Dutch-Style
By Lisa Daily
There's a new Dutch website http://www.dumpjeschatje.nl/
that's creating quite a buzz here in the States. Why? It offers so-appalling-they're-funny
tips on how to dump your partner. The site suggests women tell their not-so-loved
one they want a baby (um, that'll do it...) and recommends men buy their
girlfriend underwear that is much too big. (Nothing quite kills romance
like under-the-armpits granny panties in Extra Large.)
And, if you're too much of a weenie to go the deceptive and cruel route,
you can even download a couple Dear John (would that be Dear Jän?)
letters complete with blanks to be filled in by you, the dumper, with
the name of your soon-to-be disposed-of loved one. As variety is the spice
of heartbreak, you can choose from a nasty poem, or a terse, business-style
letter.
Unless you are on the receiving end of such a letter, most people will
probably find the site to be quite comical (and probably even more so
if you read Dutch.) It has proved so popular that in the few days after
it was launched, that more than 180,000 people visited the site. The huge
amount of media coverage in the U.S. has likely generated thousands of
American visitors, who despite the language barrier, can be certain they've
landed on the right site when they're greeted with the animated men and
women stuffing their exes head-first into trash cans. (That, and the fact
that the Dutch word for "DUMP" is apparently "DUMP.")
The site also includes helpful Dump Links to other useful sites, including
the Kleenex website (for tearful dissolutions) and someone called Tattoo
Bob, who I assume, can assist you in removing your ex's name (and any
accompanying pledge of eternal love) from your forearm. Or at the very
least camouflage it with a lovely display of daisies or some sort of circling
shark.
Is this the work of a broken-hearted depressive? No. The answer to a public
outcry for breakup assistance? No again. It is, an advertising campaign,
devised by Dutch communications company Young Works to sell vacations,
and according to a CNN report, "working on the assumption that people
want to go away for a fling without the shackles of a loved one at home."
Sure, the site may unshackle you in time for your trip to Tahiti, but
by the time your Visa bill arrives and your sunburn starts to peel, you'll
have collected enough bad Karma to follow you around for a lifetime.
© 2005 by Lisa Daily. All rights reserved.
Lisa Daily is the author of Stop Getting Dumped!
All you need to know to make men fall madly in love
with you and marry "The One" in 3 years or less. At bookstores
everywhere.
As seen in Cosmopolitan, The Washington Post and HITCH: On the Set
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