It's fine. You are sweatpants, but you will not always be sweatpants. Everything will be okay. I hope.
Love,
Your Sweatpants Queen
Love,
Your Sweatpants Queen
The Friend-Zone is Real
This all started a couple of weeks ago when my roommate (Dana) and I went hot tubbing. We got home and got to talking about how fun those guys were. With complete and total horror, we then realized that the boys we went with only saw as girls. Which is fine considering the fact that we are girls, but it's also not fine considering the fact that we weren't being seen as hot girls that they were trying to seduce with their good looks and charm.See the problem? We were friend-zoned. It wasn't even on purpose. No ones fault... We just were.
This got us thinking about how/when/why we were in this zone of "just friends." We realized that whatever we thought was working... wasn't.
The friend-zone was real and we were current inhabitants of it. How do we get out? Better yet, how did we get there in the first place?
Sweatpants vs. Skinny Jeans
This is where my wonderful friend Jimmy comes into place. Just as we were having this conversation about how to become less "friendly", Jimmy wonders on into our apartment. We explain to him our situation and here is what he tells us (me paraphrasing of course):
Jimmy: Sweatpants and skinny jeans are both wonderful.
Me (and really any other normal human being): Huh?
He explained that you have sweatpants.. and then you have skinny jeans. You see, you love to wear sweatpants at home and for lounging. They are comfortable! You feel free and you can do anything in them.
But... when you want to look nice and go out in public, you put on those hot skinny jeans. Your hot pants, dare I say. Why? Because. That's why. Sure, the sweatpants are more comfortable, but you aren't looking for comfort, you're looking for something more. Something interesting and new. Sure, they're reasonably comfortable, but not comfortable enough that you would wear them during your binge Friends watching marathon.
What does this have to do with anything? Well, he explained that there are two types of girls (or guys) in the world: there are sweatpants girls and there are skinny jeans girls. It doesn't matter which type of pants they prefer to wear, it's more about the idea. Sometimes you are kind of comfortable around someone, but you aren't too comfortable. You like going out with them and spending time, it's exciting. Then you have those people that you are all too comfortable around. The girls that guys can do anything around and feel totally fine. They know all about your bad habits, your past, and all the little embarrassing secrets that you have. What's the bottom line here? Apparently, guys don't date sweatpants.
Because "nobody wants to come home to makeout with their sweatpants." (exact quote)
So there you have it. In most situations we fall into one of two categories:
1) Sweatpants - We are great friends! There is a 100% mutual comfort level shared between the two of us. I can burp, cry, and use the restroom around you. Totally comfortable. But can I wear you in public or to a nice event? Not so much. Sometimes... but I try not to.
2) Skinny jeans- We are friends. I'm comfortable around you... but there is something more. Like, there is potential for something great there (maybe, hopefully.)
I Am Sweatpants. Now What?
Me and Men. |
Here's my theory:
Why buy the cow when the milk is free?
Like, why should Mr.RandomMan take me on a date and date me when he can just hang out with me for free? Like... date or "let's hang out and go to the food truck round-up where we both purchase our own food and I don't have to pay for you but I can still spend all this time with you?"
Maybe it's about being less available/comfortable. We should step out of our comfort zones. Dating is good. I think...
Here is a link to a talk by Dallin H. Oaks. It explains things better because... he is an apostle, obvi. Also, notice the date. This was a problem in 2005 as well. This has ALWAYS been a problem. So remember, it's not you, it's not him, it's all of us.
How do we make sure that we don't fall into that oh so scary friend-zone? How do we get out of the friend-zone? How do we become skinny jeans and not so much sweatpants? Should I throw away all of my sweatpants?
Well, ladies and gents... I don't have any real answers. I just have what my (platonic) boy friends tell me at 1 in the morning. Some girls are sweatpants and some girls are sweatshirts. And I guess I'm going to have to deal with that.
I A M S W E A T P A N T S
(You might be sweatpants, but you are not doomed to always be sweatpants. You can change it.)