The Two-Cam Syndrome
by Tangey
I've been CU-ing since, oh about Nov 95, first as a lurker, then about
Feb 1996 I de-lurked and bought a B&W Quickcam. I progressed from a
casual CU-er, to a real regular, popping up on a number of refs, and made
some good friends, both single people and couples. I'd like to talk about
my experiences of watching RL couples go from a happy relationship to
separation, a process that I have come to call "Two Cam Syndrome" (TCS).
I've noticed that the breaking-up of a relationship as seen by a CU-er, goes
through distinct phases that at the time seem innocuous, but on reflection
are quite clear pointers to a troubled relationship. I'd like to talk about one
couple in particular, I'll call them James & Joan. When I first met
James & Joan, they always logged on together, generally sitting on a
couch, side by side. They'd take turns in keyboarding, with some friendly
fighting as to whose turn it was at the keyboard.
Phase 1 of TCS began when I noticed that sometimes rather than being on
the ref together, it would be either James or Joan only in front of the cam.
One half of the couple would be on cam, then after a while the other person
would sit down, and the first would go away, then after another while the
first person would come back etc.
Phase 1 progressed to Phase 2 when it became obvious that Joan was
logging on more often when James was still at work or had gone out for
the evening, and vice versa. Also it became apparent that the type of chat
coming from them was more intimate in nature that it had been before.
Phase 3 occurred when suddenly then announced that they were a two-cam
family. Initially this was greeted with the usual "woohoo" from the ref,
with the thoughts of being able to see Joan from 2 different angles! But
quickly it transpired that James and Joan where visiting the ref separately,
and any time people asked when the other one was coming to the ref, an
evasive answer was given. To all intents and purposes, James and Joan
were leading separate CU lifes.
And of course Phase 4 occurred when James told me one evening on IRC
that him and Joan needed some time and that he was moving out for a
while, but it would be no problem and things would sort out in a week or
so. Speaking to Joan, she sounded much more depressed and
pessimistic about the situation.
I lost contact with James and Joan about a month or so after they split up.
As far as I know, they are still separated. I have seen these 4 stages of
TCS in 3 couples, and strangely enough it was only on reflection that I
pieced the thing together. Having said that, I know a number of couples
who seem very happy in a two-cam-couple relationship, so just because
you see a couple with two cams, don't automatically assume the worst.
However, if you are part of a couple and you are in the process of going
for a second cam, just stop for a sec and think what is the real reason for
buying that second cam?
August 1997
