PDA...What's Acceptable? What's Not?

So my experiences over the past two nights have prompted me to write this blog about what I consider to be appropriate public displays of affection (PDA) and what crosses the line. Now, before you gather your pitchforks and attack me for being a single person who is just jealous of all those of you who are in relationships, please understand that this is not an attack on all forms of PDA, this is just a request that couples not cross the line of acceptable forms of PDA, so please put your pitchforks away and bare with me...
So two nights in a row, I have been walking across campus and have had my eyes scarred by couples who have gotten a little carried away, so here are my rules of what is acceptable and what is not:
Acceptable: Holding hands, placing your arm around your significant other and the like
NOT Acceptable: Placing your hands underneath your significant other's clothing...basic rule: if you're in public, the public should be able to see your hands
Acceptable: a kiss goodnight
NOT Acceptable: a make-out session...now, I know that when you are saying goodbye to your significant other, that you would like to kiss him or her goodnight or goodbye, whatever it be but unless your significant other is going off to war and you will not see him or her for an extended period of time then please just keep it at a nice tasteful kiss, and if you feel the need to make it last longer because you won't see each other for what seems like an enternity, then please go behind closed doors
Acceptable: sitting on the couch next to your significant other (and by couch, i mean any place for sitting in public)
NOT Acceptable: laying on top of your significant other on the couch...
Okay, this is really all I've got for now, I'm sure more will hit me later as I encounter them, but I'll just post these for now... Before you go on to say that my not acceptable behaviors are obvious and no one would do them in public, please know that I was prompted to write these b/c I have in fact witnessed these acts in public....so, it does indeed happen...I am by no means trying to accuse anyone, this has hopefully just been a friendly request from those of us who would like to be able to walk around without encountering these things, this is not an attack on all forms of affection, for I am a fan of affection, I just think there is a time and place for it and that time and place is not always in public. And for those of you who read this and say that it I and others like me should just look away and avoid watching these individuals, I say, believe me, I have tried, and unfortunately at times its just like a train wreck, you want to look away but can't. Also, let me relay to you what happened to me on Sunday night: I was walking back to my room and a affectionate couple was walking in front of me, so I changed my path so I wouldn't have to be subjected to it any longer and next thing I come across another affectionate couple...yeah...so, I do realize this is an extreme example, but hopefully illustrates my point: sometimes, try as we may, we can not just avoid the overly affectionate couples...One last thought in response to those who say I should just look away, well, anyone who knows me knows that this is dangerous, for instance, last night I decided to send a text message to avoid further subjection of my eyes to the affectionate couple, and well I almost plowed right into a tree because I wasn't watching where I was going....alright, I'm done for now :)

Would You Rather...

This past year, it has been somewhat of a tradition for my small group to start off with a "would you rather?" question. Typically, we picked a random question from a collection that I had pulled off of the internet, but one particular week, I had forgotten to bring the questions so I decided to create one of my own...after much thought and debate (and the input of others), I decided to go with the following question: Would you rather spend two weeks completely paralyzed from the neck down or be confined to bed rest for two months? It was certainly a more serious question than usual, but was certain to incite discussion, which is part of the purpose of the questions. I had not really given the question much thought when I came up with it, but the discussion it inspired and the repercussions of that discussion have caused me to ponder the question more, and so I share my musings with you now...
Overwhelmingly (and by overwhelmingly, I mean everyone minus me and my co-leader) opted for the two months of bed rest over the two weeks of being completely paralyzed, and naturally with such overwhelming results, we decided to discuss the reasoning behind this. My co-leader and I fully admitted that we chose the paralyzed option simply because it was a smaller amount of time, two weeks and you're done, while the bed rest was for a whole two months! It seemed pretty clear to me that two weeks of paralysis would be the less painful option, but then we got into the rather nasty details of why everyone else chose the two months of bed rest, I began to question my decision... COMPLETE paralysis, that means you have absolutely no function of your body from the neck down...just ponder that for a moment....this means that you are completely and fully dependent on someone else for all your needs...You are incapable of feeding yourself, bathing yourself, relieving yourself, shoot, you can't even sit up without the help of someone else...imagine that for a moment, complete and utter dependence on someone else...And then I understood why everyone else was rather firm in their decision to choose bed rest over paralysis...
Complete dependency is a concept foreign to most people and especially so for Americans. The very thought of being dependent bothers us. After all we are a nation that thrives on our independence so why would we ever choose to be dependent on someone else? Yet, this is exactly what God commands on us, the very goal of the Christian life is to relinquish control of our lives to God. As we grow in our Christian walk, we are to grow in our dependence on God, which is totally opposed to everything our human nature and society teaches us. Society teaches us to be independent, to work hard so you don't have to depend on others. Those who are dependent on others are seen as weak and incapable of fending for themselves. So what does this all mean? Well, let's return to the would you rather question, it means that we basically decide to prolong our suffering for six more weeks rather than be dependent on someone else for our needs...this is pretty messed up if you ask me, yet we're all guilty of it, myself included.