It would help if you talked to me like I'm dumb.

I might lose a male friend because they could be getting romantically attached to me after I talked to them just like they're a girl.

I grew up around mostly girls and women to the point I don't fully get why I can't tell guy friends I love them. I kept telling one "I love ya dude!" To me, that sounds the same as "I love you as a friend!"

I thought spelling "you" as "ya" and adding the word "dude" firmly said "you're in the friend-zone." But no.

This is easily not the only example of where I fucked up, but I won't know unless it's pointed out to me and explained.

I'm furious that I live in a society :amerikkka: where I can't just tell guy friends that I love them.

  • HumanBehaviorByBjork [any, undecided]
    ·
    2 years ago

    this doesn't sound to me like your fault at all. that's a perfectly reasonable way to express platonic affection for a friend.

    guys (and maybe women, but I'm familiar with the Male Experience) will do this thing where they fantasize about becoming romantically attached to a friend, but if you've made your feelings and intentions clear as you can, it's on him to just do the adult thing and accept the gift of real friendship, which is never a bad thing to have.

    • robot_dog_with_gun [they/them]
      ·
      2 years ago

      . that’s a perfectly reasonable way to express platonic affection for a friend.

      i mean it should be, but you've got all these dudes out there who are completely starved of that kind of positivity and it creates a re-feeding syndrome situation.