comment: >
  
  Exactly!
  I can honestly say that I love all my close friends. Some are girls, some are guys. It's not sexual. It's like they are family
context: Jokes on her, I cheat with my male friends. >
  
  I'll be home in a few hours honey, just watching the ballgame. >
  
  So many balls in our games babe… they loaded all the bases >
  
  Oh lol babe, boys will be boys I guess. Take your time coming home, me & the quilting club have some rough scissoring to do. >
  
  Girls will be girls 😂 >
  
  wow. an unpopular opinion finally graced this sub >
  
  An unpopular opinion that doesn't sound made up >
  
  It's definitely her real opinion, and it's definitely unpopular. 
  Maybe at a certain point, your life partner should be your best friend, ya know? 
  But the idea that a platonic friend can't be opposite gender is beyond stupid. Are bi people and nonbinary people just not supposed to have friends at all? Seems to me the real issue is whether you want to keep true to any promises of monogamy, or not. >
  
  
  Maybe at a certain point, your life partner should be your best friend, ya know?
  
  I don't know, that has always bugged me. To me they are different....
  You know? My best friend is Steve, he was best man at my wedding. Sarah is my wife and I love her. 
  Except in my situation my best friend is Ashley, I was the best groomsmaid at her wedding, Sarah is my wife and I love her.
  They are my best friend, not my life partner. I think the "life partner" title trumps the "best friend" or else I'd just have married Ashley as we had known each other for years before. >
  
  I don't understand how you can be better friends with anyone other than your life partner, but you do you. >
  
  Again, I see them as different. 
  Life Partner > Best Friend. 
  One I devoted my life to, the other is the best of my friends. 
  I'm married, I got a wife, yes? I also have friends that are not my wife, yes? So in that category we call "friends" I would rank one as best.
  That's my best friend, as a general rule I'm not fucking my friends...that's reserved to my wife. Is she my soulmate, life partner and person I'd murder for: yes. 
  Do I have people I consider friends: yes.
  Is there a person that is the best of the group of friends and I didn't marry: yes.
  Hence they are my best friend.
  But you do you. >
  
  OP. 
  I’ve gone back and forth on this a lot over my life. The best advice I can give you is that it’s entirely case dependent and you can’t generalize. 
  There’s a lot of guys who are friends with a girl to get with them. There are a lot of girls who keep a guy around as another option. There are a lot of guys and girls (and non binary folks) who do neither and just have friends that they considered genuine siblings. 
  The only rule that one should follow is - you know your partner so don’t put them in a position where they have to be uncomfortable with you. Maintain a decent enough boundary with people who you yourself and your partner are/aren’t ok with and live your lives.
  If you or your partner cheats because of their friend of the opposite gender; they’re a shitty partner. If they make you feel uncomfortable for asking for boundaries; they’re a shitty partner.
  I conclude with the reality that boundaries are a two way street. I know a lot of religious guys that say their SO can’t have male friends, but still hang out with women who’ve expressed the desire to get together. I’ve seen women get angry at a guy for talking to a girl, and have 3 backups. Neither is ok. 
  Just live your life and dw >
  
  Personally as a straight dude I like to keep a bunch of girls as friends because they are very caring and rational. Whenever I go to a girl with my problems they always have much more fulfilling advice than my guy friends. I'm not even attracted to most of them they just get me more than guy friends >
  
  Also, having platonic  girl friends is a great way to screen out bad apples when dating. 
  As a guy I miss a lot of red flags that girls pick up right way. I also miss a lot of positive signals that girls put out, so having some "translators" was really helpful. >
  
  my male friends did this for me with men, they saw all the red flags. >
  
  One time, it was just a bracelet. 
  My girl friend: "She's got a sugar daddy"
  Me: "What makes you say that?"
  Friend: "No girl buys jewelry like that for herself."
  Me: "Maybe a gift from family?"
  Friend: "When's the last time you bought your sister a $400 silver Tiffany bracelet with a heart and arrow on it?"
  Me: "Maybe it was from a previous relationship?"
  Friend: "That bracelet came out this season, dude. That's a romantic gift, and she didn't say no. What's her name?" (Searches Instagram and shows me the pictures of her with a guy posted two days ago). "Best case scenario, you're a just a re-bound and you deserve better than that." >
  
  wtf is this sherlock level shit 😭 >
  
  Hey man, I've seen reddit guys locate the model of a gritty old walkytalkie wrapped in weird fibres down to the model, production company and circulation through the years.
  Don't underestimate weird nerds all over the world. >
  
  r/gunners figured out a possible new signing was in London based on a very average cloud formation through a small section of the car window in the background of the player's selfie. >
  
  Guess I can’t have friends being bisexual. Epic. >
  
  I'm sorry, it's illegal for you to have friends. Hand them over, now. >
  
  Can we at least get a refund? Maybe some monetary compensation? >
  
  I have some leftover Rangoon. Sorry, it’s the best I can do. >
  
  I'll take what I can get, I guess. >
  
  That’s the spirit! >
  
  I don’t think it’s a red flag at all but I think your completely within reason to let him know it makes you uncomfortable and for you two to take steps or compromise so your comfortable with their friendship. He shouldn’t have to stop being friends though. I know you said it’s not a trust thing but if this is something you guys can’t talk through then it really does seem like a trust issue. >
  
  She's 56, it's more of a generational culture thing >
  
  I’m 54 and I think this opinion is total bullshit. I’d be fine if the man I decided to marry had a woman best friend, because I wouldn’t have decided to marry him if I didn’t trust him. Also presumably I’d meet this best friend, and chances are great that if the man I loved thought she was best-friend material, I’d like her, too. 
  If you don’t trust your fiancé/fiancée, don’t get married. Full stop. >
  
  I just came here to say im free if u want to get married again😆 >
  
  First I must meet the Best Friend. ;) >
  
  Ha deciding if you can stand the best friend is a different issue to whether or not they exist and have a different gender. >
  
  Yeah, but also I want to know what the best friend thinks of him.  Ha! >
  
  I have women who I’ve known for the last 15 years of my life. I’m not gonna stop considering them some of my closest friends just cause I start dating someone. Sure. Maybe at one point when I was god damn teenager I thought of them in a slightly sexual way. But it’s been a long time since I was a teen. They’re just the homies at this point. And anyone who has a problem with that is someone I don’t want a relationship with in the first place. >
  
  This exactly. I made sure from day 0 that my partner knew that my best friend was part of the package and if he had a problem with that, then we didn't have anything left to discuss. He was and remains cool with it. Why wouldn't he be? My best friend is no threat to him. >
  
  Yup exactly. I’d honestly find it way more of red flag when someone thinks men and women can’t just be friends. Says a lot about how they view the opposite sex. >
  
  God forbid your bisexual and you're not allowed to have any friends then >
  
  Don't blame it on your age, I'm 54 and I don't see any problem with it in a healthy, trustful relationship. >
  
  I mean there’s definitely a generational cultural divide. This type of thing definitely was less common even a couple decades ago. Now, it’s much more accepted in society. Cut OP some slack bro >
  
  I love my best friend, they are the opposite sex. I would never consider dating them, but I love them in the most platonic sense.