Friendship and Dating

This past week I have had a number of conversations with multiple people about friendships and dating. My most recent conversation was with my good friend Bryan, we had a deep discussion about this way too late at night. However, some of the things that I learned from Bryan, I thought might be interesting to the rest of the world.

First off, flirting. Webster says that to flirt is to show superficial or casual interest or liking. More than once I have heard people say, "I don't even know how to flirt." These are usually the people who are constantly flirting with any member of the opposite sex that moves. I had a roommate like this for two years. Don't get me wrong this girl was an amazing person, but she just couldn't turn it off. Bryan was telling me that he doesn't even know how to flirt, that he never learned, but I'm not gonna lie. I have definitely seen that boy flirt, so it makes me wonder how does one learn to flirt. Flirting is where one person can get another person's attention. So basically what I'm saying is I don't understand flirting.

The biggest concept we talked about was levels of friendship, and falling for those who are good friends. After a group discussion at work about friendship, it has been decided that girls and guys can't pass a certain level of friendship, because after a certain point one or the other will most likely fall for the other one. So the levels of friendship are acquaintances, talking buddies(the ones in your classes where you talk to them but would never hang out with outside of class), friends, good friends, pretty good friends, best friends, then the ultimate level of friendship, marriage. So that magic level is pretty good friends. That level is the beyond good ward friends friend, if that makes any sense. This happens in movies all the time, and usually things in movies aren't real, but I would have to say that this concept is actually true, it does actually happen. By the time that you get to that point of friendship you know the other person really well. And it just so happens that by knowing someone that well, if they are a good person you might just fall for them. So when it gets to that point, what are you supposed to do? This is a concept Bryan and I discussed in some detail. How does one tell a really good friend that they want to be more than really good friends? A simply complex question.

For those of you who have seen Win a Date with Tad Hamilton, the scene where Pete tells Rosalee how he feels, I have heard multiple people suggest to others that that would be the best way to go about the deed. When suggesting that to others, I have always gotten a good response, so perhaps that is the way to do it. And hopefully as long as you are good enough friends, which at this point we have decided that you are, the outcome wouldn't be as bad as you are thinking in your head right now that it would be. My friend told me, if this were to happen to him and he were interested then it would probably be pretty simple, however if he weren't interested he said he would "have to let her know... nicely that he wasn't interested beyond friends and if could be awkward for a while,but I'd probably make efforts to get past that awkwardness and hope she would too." Now as I discussed this with my roommate we decided that that isn't of much comfort. And so after all of this, my original thought about this situation returned, just don't do it. Just wonder your whole life, and hope that one day you will get over it. So that is what I learned from my experiences this past week. Sorry if they don't make as much sense on paper (well internet) than they did in my mind.