Of public proposals gone wrong

Lorraine Mathe

LOVE is truly not for the faint-hearted! 

These words were at play when an unidentified Harare man was left embarrassed after his woman turned down his public marriage proposal.

The young man was left embarrassed with the people gathered there taking videos of him with his ring.

The incident took place on 14 February 2023 at a fast-food outlet in Harare when the man decided to be romantic and surprise his girlfriend with a marriage proposal.

In a video which circulated on social media platforms, the man can be seen going down on his knee and producing his ring while proposing to his girlfriend.

The shocked girl, however, feels embarrassed and fakes a smile while declining the young man’s proposal.

Customers and workers at the fast-food outlet started cheering up surrounding the couple and urging the lady to accept the man’s proposal, but the seemingly embarrassed girlfriend declined it.

The lady later then manages to escape leaving the guy on the floor.

The man probably wished the ground would give way and swallow him after his marriage proposal was rejected by his girlfriend.

Responding to why she rejected the marriage proposal the girlfriend said: “I just wanted somewhere quiet and not a public place”.

She also emphasised that this came as a shock, and she was not ready for a commitment.

Well, this is not the first time a man has been embarrassed for proposing in public. Some ladies dislike attention and tend to freak out when their boyfriends propose to them in public.

The incident is just one of the many surprise marriage proposals that have ended in tears after ladies embarrass their boyfriends.

Mixed reactions have trailed the failed proposal video as many frowned at the trend of public engagements among lovebirds.

“This is so humiliating,” commented a Facebook user with the name Malvin Chituwu.

Another Facebook user with the name Melinda Chetsee added: “The truth is better than marrying someone who will later become problematic to you. He should count his blessings and the girl should also count her blessings, she could have easily said yes to make people happy, but she chose not to.”

Costa Mulumba crushed her point saying: “No you are wrong; she should have saved her boyfriend from humiliation. You can always talk maamega hazvirambidzwe kumudzorera ring pasina vanhu. Kana vaimbofambidzana then why humiliate him like that. (No, you are wrong, she should have saved her boyfriend from humiliation. You can always talk when you are together and return the ring in private. If they are truly in love, then why did she humiliate him like that?’’

Toindepi Troy Jeza added that she should not waste the guy’s time and play with his heart. She should have told him on the first day that she doesn’t love him or that she loves him just for fun.

In an interview with B-Metro Leila Chigwenya (25) said, for couples to avoid embarrassments in public, they should always make sure they are on the same page when it comes to marriage issues before going on bended knee in front of a huge crowd.

“Marriage issues are something that you start discussing a long time prior to the proposal. Know how your partner feels about getting married and when they might want to get married before proposing to your lover to rescue yourself from the humiliation,” she said.

Portia Moyo added: “Particularly if we have never discussed marriage plans and he comes and proposes to me in public I would never accept the proposal as long as I am not ready. It is wise for couples to first discuss their marriage or for a man to first give a hint to the lady giving a signal about marriage plans.”

She further said that she would not expect to be blamed by the public for humiliating her man in public as he wouldn’t have discussed with her about his plans of them getting married.

“Other women intentionally reject the proposal simply because they will not be ready to be tied down. But I thought marriage is the pride of every woman, so I wonder why some reject it when they are being proposed to,” said Bukhosi Sibanda.

However, not all public marriage proposals go wrong but instead some have succeeded.

Two lovebirds from Nketa 5 suburb in Bulawayo trended on social media sometime in January 2019 after Makhosana Mguni went down on his knee proposing marriage to his girlfriend of six years Belinda Nyoni at a fast-food outlet in Bulawayo.

People, companies and organisations could not help but begin congratulating the couple by donating wedding gifts to them.

The bigger question is, was the couple ready for the already planned wedding?

And yes, the couple wedded that same year on 26 December 2019 in Bulawayo.

Besides owners of the fast-food outlet there were also pledges from different sponsors to assist the couple’s wedding.