POLL: PDA - What are the limits?

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Some things make me feel a little awkward, but it's really none of my business what other people are doing. Not my place to tell people what they're allowed to do. As long as genitals aren't involved, I don't care.

 

I don't care what people do in public. Strangely enough, for me, it's not what they do that matters, but the fact that if anyone sees me watching them (however briefly), they might think I'm some sort of pervy voyuer. So I end up deliberately looking the other way, which can be awkward if they're right in your way.

 

Welcome to a Utah high school. Where the little goodie goodie mormon kids ridicule anyone who are doing anything more than holding hands...and even then you might hear a stupid comment about it.

Back in high school, I would push "PDA" to the limit with my ex girlfriends and my fiance. It's amazing how fast they'll shut up when you walk up to them and "politly" ask them what they're going to do about it.

My fiance would tell me to squeeze her chest when she saw one of those kinds of people watching. Needless to say, I never disobeyed.

My take on "PDA" is, if you don't like it, don't do it, and don't watch other people doing it. It's a form of free speach to me. Tell me not to do it, and I'll do it more often...right in front of you!

 

You had a fiance in high school?

 

The point is, free speech is supposed to protect you from discrimination and undue pressure, not to give you a freedom to do what you want in the realm of annoying people. In fact, it's more of a protection than a freedom in the popular modern sense. I would probably laugh at a show like Kitrax described, realising it as a joke, but if it were a joke between people who aren't romantic partners and it went too far, I would probably be offended.

Unless it looks like a mating process taking place, I generally don't really care, even if I don't like something, but sometimes people overdo it. Again, I wouldn't like my younger family members or future children to behave like that (i.e. like what I consider too much) in public, but so long as there's no nudity or gross sexual theme involved, I can live with it if it's with one person at a time, in a relationship which is or looks at a serious commitment. As for excessive PDA with random people, I think it isn't really great style. When it's the romantic/sexual kind of PDA (okay, kissing your friends of the opposite gender on the cheek and/or giving them a hug or holding their hands when they're sad or something may look romantic but it isn't what I mean here ) and the recipients are many, I try to limit my contact with the persons involved and avoid receiving PDA from them. Plus, friendship/emotions are sort of an excuse. I didn't kill a good friend for kissing me on the lips instead of the cheek with birthday wishes back in the time, because it was friendly, but I wouldn't like to be kissed by a girl who meets a couple of guys, myself included, and regards them all in more or less the same way. In short, I just don't like the sluttiness of random sexually charged PDA with random people. And when the recipient is not a romantic crush, a relative or a friend, it's sexual for what else?

 

No, she was my girlfriend at the time, but now she's my fiance. Kids who get engaged while they're still in high school need to be slapped around with a large trout...

It wasn't always a joke. We just liked to take it up a notch when the kids on their way to the seminary building walked by.

 

Still, it's a bit like with drinking. I don't mind tipsy people, even drunken people, so long as they have the ultimate control of their behaviour. If they drop that control, then I mind.

So a little nookie isn't so offensive and, depending on the scenario, even what would normally fall under groping doesn't have to be, and as I said, I'm not a big formalist here, but I just don't like when it looks as if people were having a wild foreplay or sex with clothes on. If they are married, I feel like they should get a room or I should leave. If they aren't, I feel like I should start preaching. Especially if there were immediate family members, I could see it partly as a failure on my part. If I were in charge of a couple of children or teenagers and answered to their parents (e.g. as a teacher or uncle), I would interrupt anything more than simple kissing, cuddling or holding hands, and I would alert the parents if I saw even simple kissing or cuddling but with multiple different people. Then again, I would call the parents and the police if another teacher made kids kiss other kids in a stage play, even if I were to lose my job for it. Let alone spin the bottle or similar games at a party with kids. With adults, I would just leave if spin the bottle were to be played. But if it were kids, I would call the police or school authorities or parents or whatever such.

Spin the bottle is not exactly PDA because there's no affection there, but display of affection without affection is awfully gross IMHO. Or grossly awful if you prefer. I haven't been a saint myself but that kind of thing puts me off.

 

No, Kitrax, not a large trout, they need to be slapped with a hagfish.