Men and Women Can Never Be Friends....

Is that statement true? I recently purchased "When Harry Met Sally," a late 80's romantic comedy with Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan. It's like, the precurser to movies such as "Sleepless in Seattle" and "You've Got Mail." The first of the great Meg Ryan romantic comedies. Anyways, as you may expect, I had to get out my romantic insecurities. I came up with a great analogy tonight. Actually, about a second ago. My emotions of romance and love are like an orange. They usually are kept in a tidy package (i.e. the peel). However, practically any good romantic comedy (preferably You've Got Mail, Sideways, When Harry Met Sally, or Hitch) is like a juicer. And my romantic insecurities (the orange) are juiced by the romantic comedy (the juicer). So, right now I'm trying to drain the glass of orange juice. So let's be quick with this, because I want to get to the question posed in the title. Basically, I just want romance in my life. Will it be with Becky, the oboist? Who knows. To add another female to my proverbial carousel of women I'm interested in, I was absolutely stunned today by this one girl. This is completely ludicrous, but I've never actually talked to her. I just know she's in the Nottingham program. I just recognized her from a meeting or something today, and I was like, "Holy crap, that girl is incredibly beautiful." Not by any means hot, or like a supermodel, but just genuinely beautiful. I thought so at least. Anyways, yeah. I hope when I actually do find the one, my own courtship/relationship phase isn't a disappointment, after watching all these stupid movies. Anyways, "When Harry Met Sally" poses the idea that men and women can never truly be friends because sex always gets in the way. I'm not quite sure if I agree with that or not. I mean, I do, but I think there are exceptions. I mean, I think to an extent, that is true. Men have way too many hormones than we know what to do with. And sex is a thought pattern that is constantly sort of in the back of the mind. It's not a perverse thing, necessarily, but it's just there. Not solely limited to the physical act of sex, but also to certain emotions of romance and love, also. Lust as well, being the sex part. So better put, men always have a certain thread of emotions relating to relationships and sex in the back of their mind. To me, at least. So I tried to take an honest look at my friendships, and apply them to the topic at hand. In short, I think that the statement is false in most normal situations. Let me explain. Sex gets in the way. It does. It gets in my way every day as I interact with women at Luther, particularly women I find attractive and/or interesting. Like, it really is a challenge for me, a big challenge. It's a struggle to keep such thoughts out of your head, and just try to look at the female as another human being. Actually, I'm really tired, and would rather continue my explanation of this later. Or rather, exploration. If anyone has an opinion, please let me know. I hope everyone is well. Have a good night.