Lexi Morgan @Lexi_Morgan17 [Social Media Editor]
It’s an age old question. It haunts couples, friendships, and the minds of many. Can guys and girls be friends?
Most people can say they have a friend of the opposite sex. The problem is in most cases, one of the friends has feelings for the other. It comes up often in relationships. The girlfriend is texting some other guy, or vice versa, and they tell their boyfriend he’s “just a friend”. Chances are, in her eyes, they might just be friends, but the guy probably has a something else on his mind.
Here’s how it usually happens. Sally and Joe are dating. They fight sometimes, like every couple. When they do, Joe talks to his friend, Susan, about his problems and for advice. It seems innocent enough, and Susan is “always there” for Joe. After a while, Sally and Joe’s differences become too much and they break up. Out of nowhere, Joe and Susan start dating. WHAT? Who saw that coming?
An exception for this rule is if you have known the other person for a long time. It is true, you can have a friend of the opposite sex, but the majority of these friendships harbor feelings of someone in the “friendzone”.
Moral of the story, if someone is in a relationship and wants to stay in the relationship, be careful with this. The “friend” may have a hidden agenda, and it’s hard to know how the other-half of the real relationship is going to see this friendship.
Ferg • Oct 30, 2014 at 3:39 pm
Lexi – you nailed it! Sounds like you know what you’re talking about from experience 🙂 Or maybe you’ve just witnessed it. I don’t know that it changes that much as you grow older – all the female friends I had were colleagues at work or girlfriends/wives of friends. Good discussion though!