Platonic Friendships - The BEST Intimate Partners?

Boy, my day yesterday was one I'd just assume FORGET!!! :-( More on that in another blog entry. :-)

But if there was a silver lining in an otherwise dark cloud, it would have to be a copy of last week's edition of Time Magazine In it was an article by Pamela Paul on Platonic Friendships, which i felt was most interesting.

Although the article profiled three happily married couples, one of the most interesting statistics was that One In 10 25 to 34 year olds say their BEST FRIEND is a member of the OPPOSITE SEX.

Speaking from some personal experience, I am a HUGE fan of platonic friendships. Not only that, but I believe that, in a day and age where the divorce rate in this country (and abroad) is higher than the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center were before 9/11, it's ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL to have a plutonic friendship for couples to fall back on in case marriage doesn't work out.

Now, of course, I'm no expert on the subject, but it seems to me that people tend to be quick to rush to the altar FAR too quickly these days. OTFS, some would argue that some of those platonic friendships would amount to long-distance relationships, which don't work either (just ask my brother Bill who thought getting married BEFORE shipping out to join the United States Navy was an absolute "brilliant" idea. - NOT!).

Also, according to the article, Match.compolled 1,514 of its members and found that 83% believe that men and women can be just friends. In a way, this isn't much of a surprise. I mean, when you take into into consideration of Friendsand Seinfeldand the success and the chemistry the cast members have among each other, it should be of little wonder that people would want to "mimmick" what the cast members of those shows do. It also wouldn't be surprising if there were ROLE PLAYING groups (I didn't find any on Yahoo! Groups) whereas people act out the roles of the various cast members either.

Some have even found that marriage even strengthens the bond that makes a platonic friendship work. I'm a true believer that relationships don't work very well without a platonic friendship to back it up. But then too, I'm not the expert on the subject. I'm just your average, ordinary blog writer sitting in front of the computer who also spends some time making friends with others on this massive "Information SuperHighway" who also just happens to be SINGLE and in his THIRTIES. :-)

Author Michael Monsour was quoted in the article as saying that the different sexes of TODAY have MORE IN COMMON as they go through the life cycle. This couldn't be further from the truth!! As women have (professionally) evolved into almost anything and everything from Astronauts to Zoologists, we AS A SOCIETY are finding out that men and women DO have more in common than we thought.

And as *I* continue my own search to find that special someone, that "Rock Of Gibraltar" (sp?), that one person to turn to when life gets rough, I look forward to experiencing much of this and anything else like it that life throws my way. :-)

In the meantime....Cheers for now :-)

Pat