PDA

Good evening friends.

Today at church I had trouble concentrating. This isn't anything new because my mind loves to wander, but this time it wasn't my mind doing the wandering. I chose my seat after walking into my church's auditorium and quickly the seats filled up around me. I looked around and saw that I was surrounded. I was surrounded by couples. Young couples. Couples who did a lot of arm rubbing, side-ways hugging, and even some butt grabbing.

Don't you think that those people could find time in the other 166 hours of their week to snuggle? I really don't think that's too much to ask. I'm going to try to explain something now that might not make sense, but I'm going to do it anyways. Imagine this: I sit down in a chair. That chair is attached to all the other chairs in that row. A young lady sits in the seat directly to my right and her boyfriend/fiance/man friend sits next to her.

Now, I don't know about you, but growing up in a medium sized church did not prepare me for church services in which I am one of about a trillion other people trying to find an open seat from which to watch the service, as it is in my new church home. As we were listening to the sermon and I was trying to discreetly crane my neck around the man's head in front of me to read a bible passage on the screen, I noticed something in my peripheral awareness. My head was only about an inch away from my next chair neighbor's boyfriend's hand.

He had wrapped his arm around her shoulders (not unlike a Boa constrictor) and was massaging her upper arm vigorously. Right. Next. To. My. Neck.

No matter how I have to maneuver to see the preacher, I should not have to worry about encroaching on someone else's PDA to read a Bible passage, you know? I don't think that's unreasonable, do you? Outside of church, PDA seems to be a given. But during the sermon? Please. I think I speak for all of us in the Sane and Single club when I say, "Really? REALLY?"

Being single has been beneficial for me in a number of ways. One of those ways is that it gives me the opportunity to view two participants of a romantic relationship from an outside (but slightly cynical) perspective. From the Sane and Single clubhouse, if you will. I have identified what disgusts me about certain lovebirds I see, and now I can fashion my own relationships to avoid becoming one of the overly demonstrative couples that have made me feel so uncomfortable in my own church.


After the previously described incident occurred, my "couple radar" was heightened. I noticed that every one of the couples surrounding me were participating in some sort of arm rubbing or back stroking. I may sound like a lunatic, but that small stuff added up to one big problem for me. I was so grossed out by the blatant physical attention these couples were paying to each other that my focus on the sermon was shot to pieces. Needless to say I can't recall exactly what the sermon was about today.

I know people have a lot of different ideas of what is decent and indecent when it comes to PDA. I get that. I also know that other young, single Christians have expressed the same frustrations as I have about this issue. That said, we might assume that I'm not a raving crazy who is hiding in the Sane and Single Clubhouse ready to launch water balloons at the next unsuspecting couple that saunters by. I just want to be able to hear a sermon devoid of the sound of a few men's scratchy hands snagging on their lady's silky blouses.

For the love of all things holy, let's keep our hands to ourselves. At least in church, okay? Good talk.

Love,
Charlotte