Once upon a time, long, long ago, there were unspoken societal rules to how humans should conduct themselves in the public eye; so what happened? Unfortunately, with the increased prevalence of public displays of affection, it seems that society is furthering its ability to disgustingly display sexual fondling in public sectors.
Today there are rules about PDA throughout the United States in middle schools, high schools and even colleges, yet once you leave your disgust-free sanctuary, you find that the outside world is filled with live pornography around every street corner.
Yes, this is a strong generalization, but when you look at the extent to which our society has become more and more comfortable in showing affections, give it a few years and this 'outlandish accusation' might just become reality.
There is a very fine line between where affection is seen as sweet, beautiful and a soothing sign of love and adoration, and where it is seen as overzealous, disgusting and a disrespectful sign of an unconfident relationship.
As I see it, if one is confident in one's relationship with another person and has respect for others around them and their significant other, they should not feel the need to be practically licking each others' faces off, or groping obscene body parts in public.
Affection, in my mind, should be a personal, loving and respectful thing that is to be done in the time between two individuals, not when hanging out with friends, family, or on the street. It is an unnecessary display that only shows that you, one, have no valuable and significant time to spend with each other; this only shows that you do not have your 'hunny' near the top of your priority list and do not have good time management skills. Or, two, you are not confident that the rest of the world knows that you are getting some, which only shows your lack of self respect and confidence.
Either gives no explanation or reasoning to why people feel they must show the public that they know how to kiss and that, yes, they can touch that normally taboo body part. Touch it in your own space and time, and leave my nice respectful clean world alone.
Almost every person that I have ever spoken to or asked about PDA has had the same opinions as I do. Yet, somehow, when the novelty of a boyfriend or girlfriend comes around, they hypocritically turn traitor on me and make me feel more uncomfortable than ever when spending precious time around them.
The phrase "third wheel" is exactly the obnoxious uncomfortable 'vomity' feeling that occurs when you want to hang out with a good friend, and they insist on becoming superglue with their significant other. No one likes to feel unappreciated, and when couples commit PDA, a good friend ends up feeling like chopped liver.
Some might say it's impossible to keep the feelings of want and desire at bay and insist there is not enough time for friends, family and significant other; I beg to differ. There are very few who have mastered the art of personal respect when it comes to relationships in public, but the relationships that are solid, respectful and understanding never seem to have a problem.
Then there are those who do not commit the horrible crime of PDA, no no, they just find a boyfriend/ girlfriend and exclude their friends from their life. This infraction is just as bad, especially since when the relationship inevitably breaks up, for the excess time spent together, they go running back to their dumped friends. Some friends understand the first time, but from a person who has endured this abuse many times, I suggest do not do it twice, or the friendship may never be totally repairable.
You ask, where is the line, then, what is appropriate and inappropriate? When you are in a public place, or with friends and family, act like your significant other is a good friend, just like one of your other awesome friends. Save the groping and emotion for later, and if you and your significant other are actually friends, which you should be, there should be no problem in just hanging out without obscene amounts of fondling for a few hours. Couples should enjoy their time together without feeling the need to have sexual contact if their relationship is solid and respectable.
Sometimes I think people forget that timeless phrase that "friends come first" and that it goes along with "treat others how you want to be treated." So, to the love-struck friend, remind her/him of this golden rule, because what goes around comes around - one day your ignorant choice of groping and kissing out of context will come back to you twofold. You will be stuck on a plane with a couple sitting next to you and accidentally hitting you with their elbows so that they can further put their hands down each others' pants. Those times in life will remind you to never make your personal life public. That's why it's called personal.
