The Pure Relationship
In light of my previous post, I thought now would be a good time to explain what a friend of mine and I have considered a "pure relationship". A "pure" relationship is one where you meet the person with no apparent connections and in a random situation. This relationship can be considered pure because it has no previous expectations or rules of engagement for interacting with the person that you've come across. Just to clarify what I mean by "in a random situation", I mean out in the world, moving about and not in some predetermined situation with set guidelines of interaction (class, club, dinner, etc.). Preferably, these relationships would be non-sexual in nature, or else they'd have set guidelines again. The nature of the relationship is more of a mutual benefit of knowledge, rather than physical (including monetary) or emotional gain I think that there's something to be said about the ancient Greek's embrace of a factor of chance in the world. The fact that you happened to meet someone randomly on the bus and you got along seems like more of an accomplishment than meeting someone in a clearly defined setting where there were no barriers to get past. I think that everyone should strive to have at least one of such a free relationship. Free in the sense that nothing is set, the rules are free-flowing, formless, while allowing either party to decide whether they are satisfied with the relationship at any time. Is this a pipe dream? I sure hope so, but at least it's something to strive for.
The down side of meeting someone at a random location is that chances are you might never see the person again even if you want to. It is hard to be upfront and just try to exchange information with the other person on the first meeting because you don't want to seem like a creep.
Nida
That is a good point, but that's the beauty of facebook or msn now. You don't have to give very much information away, you could even put them on restricted profile if you wanted. It's not like you have to give your number, address, or commit to anything, really.