This is a shitty essay. Now that I have presented my thesis, allow me to explain how this essay will unfold. First, please note it is 0200 hours as I begin, with two consecutive nights of 4 hours sleep plus work and lots of partying. Second, I have no idea how I will be able to answer this question for it may or may not be arrived upon on the spot somewhere along the way as I write ad hoc. Thirdly, I have done absolutely no research into the matter. Fourth and lastly, I haven't even told you what this essay is about so it must really really suck that you've read this far. This essay will attempt to construct the typical social structure that defines Friendship and compare and contrast it to Relationship, focusing on the gap between the two and how we as a society fail to bridge the gap.

A friend, in my opinion, is someone who more than a Stranger or Acquiantance. A stranger is someone you do not know, but may have heard, heard of, seen, predicted should exist, or is from deep right field. An acquiantance is a stranger plus some knowledge, including customary interation such as introductions and talk about the weather. A friend is someone you know and desire to associate with. By knowing, I mean well, knowing. You know what they like, dislike, how they act in a variety of situations, some of their past, their predictable future, and views in life. Whether or not they all jive with you, you take pleasure from their company, be it only for their looks even, and you may not even advertise to a single other person that you are friends with them. You would stand up for them to protect your friendship, their well-being, etc. You may even want to spend all your spare time with them because you like how things evolve. A Good Friend would be someone you spend more time with, know more about, would go to greater lengths for, etc. A Best Friend, would be someone who has been around the longest, who you confide in the most, who you have been through the most with, who you could never stand to loose perminent contact with, etc.

A Relationship between you and your -Friend, be they Good-Friend, Best-Friend or Friend, and even between Acquiantances, of course exists; but you are not this person's Significant Other, or Siggy for short tonight. Your Siggy is more than likely someone who you would be able to lable as a -Friend, but for whom you reserve certain feelings and activities for. Such as holding hands. Kissing, hugging, cuddling, make-outs, sex, parenting, etc. These relationships also typically have a stric level of monogamy accociated with them. You may have lots of friend, some Good-Friends, a few Best-Friends, but you would only have one Siggy. This person is who you are in a Relationship with. The crossing between Best-Friend and Siggy would seem naturally easy would it not? Duh, it better. There are very few differences between the two.

So why is it, I hear of so many other people Never speaking to their ex-Siggy's ever again, or wishing them harm? Would you do that to your Best-Friend? If you felt the Friendship had been sacrificed and was unsalavagble, or not worth the pain, then well yes. So now consider this question. Why is it rare to hear of a see a Couple, two people who are each other's Siggy, shift their relationship down a notch to Best-Friends? I imagine that it is difficult because the reason for shifting gears in the first place was because of a serious problem in the relationship to begin with, one that even at the higher Siggy-level could not be resolved. Which finally leads me to this pondering below.

Say, you have someone with whom you jive with like java. A soulmate. Someone who shares so many of your views, passions, ideas, goals, etc. that they are a friend with whom you click with very well and if they aren't a Best-Friend, they soon will be. Why should there be a fear to progress to a Siggy-status, if you both believe that downshifting can be accomplished should things not work out? Fear of the pain this would cause? Okay, good answer. Fear of losing them as a friend if things went wrong? Good one too. So why is it we have all this experience in front of us, be it from personal experience, or from friends, on how to make friends, keep them, make Siggys, keep them, leave them, but no social structure on how to shift down from Siggy to -Friend status? We've got a bridge to cross here, backwards, and there are no help books on them out there!

I'm not saying help books on the matter are required, LOL. No! What I mean is, why doesn't this topic exist? Think about how so many other people out there just expect you to Hate your ex-Siggy and be done with them. You're cutting out someone most likely of Best-Friend status, the highest rank, representing more emotional attachment than a 1,000 Friends. Are we too hesitant to change from -Friend to Siggy status because we don't know how to climb back down, only up? I think so.

When we sit at the dinner table, most of us know and some of us actually practice proper table-manners. Sit straight. No elbows on the table. Don't clank your spoon in your mug loudly. Don't let things drip on the table cloth. Put the napkin on your lap. Use the napkin! Pass items to other person. Use the right Fork, Spoon and Knife at the proper times for the proper items. I could go on, but I've made my point. This is a highly structured system that we're all aware of, even if we don't follow it. This, quite frankly, in the face of shifting Siggy relationships to -Friend relationships, pales. How could we avoid such an important aspect of being if society wants us to have a Siggy for the rest of our lives but doesn't tell us how to shift around a little?! What the Hell is Wrong With Us?!

Maybe, just maybe, the Comments here will be our saviours. Maybe... What are your thoughts on either What Went Wrong, and How Do We Bridge This Gap, or, Does This Gap Exist?!