Grass is always greener

I complain almost incessantly about guys only seeing me as a friend, being a guy’s girl, not being the one they want to date, blah blah blah. Even I get sick of my complaints sometimes (perhaps not often enough).

But what about the people who have the opposite problem? What if a girl only wants to be friends with a guy? What does she do? I have had two friends encounter this issue recently. And since it’s foreign to me, I just don’t know what to say.

If you like someone as a person and want to be just friends with them, how do you convey that? If you ignore them, there’s no chance at a friendship. If you text them like you do your current friends, they may get the wrong idea. Damned if you do, damned if you don’t.

I know, being on the other side of that, that I would rather have the person just talk to me, be straight up with the way they see our relationship. But that’s not always easy, especially since in makes you seem vain and incredibly presumptuous. And yet, when I found myself in this situation just a few weeks ago, I found that when the object of my interest was straight up with me - when I learned the truth and realized all the signs I was seeing as vibes were really just indicators of friendship - the attraction lifted off my shoulders and I was able to look at him and honestly see him and just a friend.

But that took me forcing the issue. Forcing the uncomfortable conversation. Not everyone - nay, few people are comfortable doing that. How do you know the proper signals to send to someone of the opposite sex if you know, without a doubt, this is someone you just want to be friends with?

Better yet, can guys and girls EVER just be friends? Do sexual politics always get in the way? To be continued...