When we walk down the street, we see a man and a woman. They are not holding hands, nor are they in physical contact, but they are intimate. Many of us assume that they are lovers or married couples. But you don\’t have to encounter this scene in public. It is enough for your friends to visit you and for others to address you. [Of course, one cannot lump everyone together.
Why are we so quick to think this way? We have a lot of questions piling up in our minds about what their relationship is and what is going on between them. But they don\’t have to be. They could be just friends, or acquaintances who have known each other for years. We see them together, laughing, hugging, having something to say to each other. It immediately gets our attention and we stop and quickly render a verdict. On the contrary, we should accept it as natural.
Is that what we are doing these days? Or is it a problem for certain people who always need to solve something, analyze something?
We should rather focus on how wonderful it is that both sides get along. Nowhere does it say that we must only get along with the same sex. For example, since I was a child, I have often befriended friends of the opposite sex. And I don\’t see that as anything special or perverse. It was more interesting and fun to play soccer or hockey or climb old buildings. That was true even in his later years. And I don\’t think it makes a big difference if you are 10 or 20 years old. We know what that person is to us and what kind of attachment we have to them. It doesn\’t have to be between two women or two men.
We should not judge a person based on appearance alone. I thought this was being addressed primarily by the older generation, who were adamant that the immediate couple be of the opposite sex. But this was wrong several times. And the stares of onlookers are quite disturbing.
In summing up this article, I have come to the conclusion that I believe in friendship between women and men.