Conditions, conditions, conditions! Everywhere you look around you find conditions. Starting with the atmospheric conditions everyone and everything has conditions attached to them. Visit a website terms and conditions, buy a product conditions apply, take part in a contest, conditions apply, volunteer for something conditions apply. Isn't this stretching things a bit too far? Looks like nothing works without conditions. Hell! I feel like I am living in a Chemistry lab where everything depends on the conditions prevalent at that time.

Unconditional love. Everyone keeps talking about it and will have you believe that all of them are practicing it. Fact is, that now, the unconditional love has become a condition for love. People start demanding unconditional love thereby putting a condition to the unconditional love. I guess it is alright as long as the condition for the unconditional love is for the other party. Pretty confusing, huh!

The phrase has become so prevalent, thanks to the marketing brains. It gives them a big enough leeway to lie through their teeth and then put all the exclusion and whatever else they lied about in the conditions apply clause. Not long after, everyone caught on to the trend and now irrespective of whether it is required or not people have started putting the term everywhere. No harm in just writing it, is there? Just in case. It is an escape clause. I seriously feel that if you were to ask the owners of the ads which display this term about what the conditions are, they would be at a loss, since they really have never thought about it. The more I see these Conditions apply phrases on ads and products, I get the feeling as if conditions are some moisturizing creams or shampoos which one needs to apply.

Nowadays even the relationships are having the conditions apply tag attached to them through the prenuptial agreements and all. Imagine Madonna, after her unfortunate divorce with Guy, walking up to another guy with a conditions apply tag on her bodice (No more 70 mil settlements). Better still, a boy, after a herculean effort and lots of money, to get the girl to his bed, finding a conditions apply tag on her underwear (Marry me). A conditions apply tag indicating, "Better Like It" displayed on the dining table. There are many more instances we can think of while talking about it.

In my opinion the phrase ought to be banned. At best the Conditions Apply phrase is a sordid display of lack of trust among the two parties and at worst an indication of inadequacies in the product or service itself.

You are free to comment on this post but remember, Conditions Apply.