The Rocket

Issue date: 2/3/06 Section: Opinion

Jess Rupell

As I sat down to write my article this week, I contemplated the possible topics I could inform my loyal readers on. Steelers headed to the Super Bowl on Sunday seemed like a good topic, but then I remembered that I'm from Philly.

President Bush's State of the Union Address also appeared to be an interesting idea, but I'm hoping to save my thoughts on Bush and the United States government for a future article. The huge varsity sports cut was another issue I contemplated writing about, however, I already knew this would be fully covered on the second, if not first page of the paper. So, as I continued to sit and ponder over anything to write about, I finally decided that I would go pre-Valentine's Day and talk about love, or more generally, relationships.

Let's begin with the infamous debate - can guys and girls just be friends, with there being no other strings (or ideas) attached? Immediately upon being asked this question I would always automatically respond with a "yes." Growing up with many more guy friends than girl friends, it was always an obvious answer for me. But because I really wanted to think about this in more depth than normal, I started to consider the opposition of my original thinking.

However, looking at who I consider my good guy friends now, I have to admit that at one point or another in nearly every single one of the friendships, at least one of us has had a crush on the other - whether it was publicly known or not. Sure, we may no longer have those feelings, but at one point, the ideas about one another were not merely about friendship. In fact, it's hard to really think of any friendship I've had with someone of the opposite sex where he has never had feelings for me and I have never had feelings for him. I wish to believe differently just to prove everyone wrong who continues to say that guys and girls can never be just friends, but it's hard when the facts proving me wrong are staring me hard in the face.

Maybe it's only human nature to be friends with members of the opposite sex with whom some attraction was or is currently stirring. That initial attraction is often the key factor in what gets people to open up and get to know someone - more than just an acquaintance that is. And should the attempt at a relationship fail, whether meekly or strongly pursued, the friendship is there as some sort of a backup to keep the two people connected in some sort of non-romantic way.

So, baffled by my own realizations and the friendships I have with my male friends, I suppose the conclusion that I've come to is that I believe males and females cannot be good friends without one of the two having greater intentions for the other at least at one point in the duration of the friendship. Or can they?

Page 1 of 1

Article Tools