BARE MINIMUM

What, in your opinion, is the bare minimum a guy / girl should do to keep a romantic relationship alive? What is the least a guy can do during courtship to maintain interest? And are these bare minimum requirements being met? I can bet that the answer to my last question is no. You are probably familiar to the phrase “being a decent person and expecting boyfriend / girlfriend privileges in return”. By being a decent person, I mean doing what is humane. Or as Christ put it, doing unto others as you wish done unto you (Matthew 7:12). If you want to be treated like a human, treat others like humans. Don’t treat them like trash and expect emperor treatment.

My friend once said to me that food is a communal love language. Feeding someone is not a favor but a humane act, simply because you don’t feed your body and expect it to pay you in kind. Fine, nourishment gives you energy and keeps you alive but that’s how you stay alive. Which brings me to one of my previous posts about expecting sex as a means of remuneration for a date. Who told you I can’t buy myself food? And who told you I can’t masturbate for sexual satisfaction? Shame on you – that’s not even doing the bare minimum! Being honest, polite, courteous, kind, keeping time, communicating, speaking words of affirmation and being understanding are but a few of the basic decent things we can practice as humans. I mean, is that too much to ask for?

Someone somewhere out there reading this is probably rolling their eyes and thinking this is being too demanding. Switch roles. You want people to be kind to you. Courteous. Honest. Polite. Communicate. Keep time. Affirm you. Doesn’t that make you feel good? So why not practice the same when wooing someone’s son / daughter? This is the barest of minimums you can apply to your dating life, and build from there. That already sets you apart from the rough, inconsiderate and uncouth types that think dating is a kibanda where you just go and yell your order at the wait staff and expect to be served. Have a sense of decorum. Be a damn human!