Public Displays of Affection — When Does Cute Cross the Line to Cringe-Worthy?
This is a line I have crossed. Repeatedly. As a younger man, I can remember not hesitating to tell that couple making out on the dance floor to ‘get a room.’ I was a conservative kid, and the idea of grinding up against someone — or, even worse, kissing — right out in public seemed unseemly.
Since then, I’ve changed a lot, and I am far less conservative. I’ve learned to be way less judging of other people and to — by and large — live and let live. And more importantly, I’ve come to feel that expressing emotions and feelings of love and closeness in public is healthy and beautiful.
Whereas I used to feel that anything more than a peck on the cheek was inappropriate, I now love it when someone gives their partner a deep kiss in a moment of spontaneous passion.
For me, it’s been like a blinding flash of the obvious. There is virtually nothing I value more than a solid and loving relationship. Psychological studies have found that,
“The single biggest predictor of human happiness is the quality of [a person’s] relationships.”
I firmly believe that, and I know that for myself, my happiness is inexorably tied to how happy I am with my wife, my kids, and the other intimate relationships in my life.
