Girlfriend <> than good friend?

Was talking with a friend today whose identity shall be protected from light.

Anyway, the topic branched out to relationships, and i asked him, is it better for two people in love to stay together in a relationship as boyfriend-girlfriend, or for two people to stay apart, but as the best of friends.

I dunno - the "best of friends" option sounds so secondary. Like earning duopoly profits when u can earn cartel profits. But then, his answer was quite shocking:

It is better for two people to stay apart as good friends instead of lovers.. firstly, they don't have to be at each other's beck and call, which allows for more free time and less stress. Imagine all the time saved, that was spent travelling to each other's places for... intimate rendezvouses. Imagine all the stress trying to solve each other's problems. Imagine all the heartbreaks suffered after quarrels.

I think it's quite a phenomenon that people are actually suggesting this. You want someone to love you, yet you want your own time, it's a total paradox. All along i had thought that if someone were to be your girlfriend (or "stead" as the ah bengs called it) you have to be with her side, like bees to honey. From observation, after the ah bengs get their "steads" out to Orchard on the night of a sleazy weekday, both of them will smoke cigarettes at the back of Ngee ann city, or some subway tunnel, hug, kiss, , , , , , .

And in the last few years, even the more educated secondary school and JC people striding proudly in their uniforms and their branded sling bags are also starting to emulate these ah bengs. They can be found also in Orchard road (without the cigarette), at places such as Lido, Takashimaya, Wisma atria, hidden beneath the surface of the earth, at exquisite cafes and fast-food restaurants, Swensen's, Ben and Jerry's, Marches, NYDCs.

The dating game is evolving, and it's evolving too fast like the rest of this world. Unbelievable.