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AJC.com > Living > Blog > Archives > 2007 > October > 29
Monday, October 29, 2007
Call it what you want
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The weirdest part of dating for me is the nomenclature of different stages in relationships. For example, when I first moved to the South, I inquired after a couple of people who I noticed had been spending a lot of time together. “They’re talking,” I was told. Talking? “Yes,” someone explained. It’s when someone is in the pre-stages of dating. And it is an official label.
Well, that was news to me.
As I’ve gotten older, the people have matured, but the weird categorization of dating relationships has remained a mystery. Right now I have two friends who are “just getting to know each other” who couldn’t have spent more time last night hugging each other and rubbing each others’ shoulders. And this has been going on for weeks. You can’t convince me that they aren’t into each other. But their official stance: “We’re just getting to know each other.”
And yet, some people who choose to spend the night together wouldn’t even classify themselves as friends, much less lovers or significant others. And of course, there are all sorts of classifications in between.
Have you ever been in an ambiguous relationship? Something that defied classification? Or what about something completely classifiable that you felt was simply…mislabeled by one or both parties?
If your relationships are pretty cut and dried, do you have friends who end up in relationships that are difficult to define? “Allow me to introduce you to Ben, my…er…uh…this is Ben!”
Why does there seem to be such an infinite number of different types of relationships between “friends” and “lovers?” Is calling a relationship what it is really that difficult, or do we make it that way?
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