Weekend Engagement - One Night Stands Are Complicated

Your best friend's partner (who you find very attractive) begins to flirt with you then suggests a one-night-stand sexual encounter. Your friend will never find out. Do you do it or not?

The answer is of course NO. A very strong response in bold and capital letters.

Before I begin, this weekend's prompts have been a bag of dilemmas and it's interesting to see how different people would respond. Personally, I do feel that there is no absolute right or wrong because everything seems to fall into this "grey" area and I think certain scenarios can also be viewed from a case by case basis.

Anyway, so here's why my answer is a No.

1) A moment of joy, a lifetime of regret

I think if this were to happen to me (i.e. I really did the one night stand), I probably would regret it the next morning onwards. Not just regret but perhaps guilty also.

I think one key aspect which wasn't mentioned in this scenario is whether I am attached/married or single. It might not be that bad if I were single, because I have no commitments to anyone. But if I were attached/married, then it is definitely cheating already.

Regardless, for short term joy and long term regret, it's NO for me.

2) Friendship is always more important

Apart from my personal marital status, I think the key point here is best friend's partner, i.e. not just any random person or a normal friend/acquaintance. Over the years, I think friends are really hard to find, and if you have good and best friends, there is no doubt you should cherish and treasure them. They will be the ones to pick you up when you are down, lend a listening ear when you need to pour your heart out, and of course, to celebrate your successes and achievements!

From a friendship standpoint, it doesn't tick the box for me either.

Not always a NO?

I see myself as relatively open-minded and I try (my best) not to judge people because I am not in their shoes. While my answer is a strong NO, I was actually pondering why there could be people that decide to go for it...

• Maybe it's a case of do first and worry later? After all it's someone attractive?

• Or maybe they are single and they don't see anything wrong between two consenting adults?

• Or maybe they are attached/married but they themselves and their partners have agreed to an open relationship?

• Or maybe their best friend is open to such an encounter in an attempt to spice up their sex lives and improve their relationship/marriage with their partner?

My final train of thought.. Reframing this scenario, if let's say we were in the best friend's shoes, and knowing that partner is going to cheat/has cheated, would we feel better that the partner did it with a stranger or with a best friend? Hmm.. I have no answer to that.

Life can be so complicated sometimes. Haha. Anyway, my answer is still a No but I do think different people have different considerations and perspectives to this issue. What do you think?

So that's all for my sharing this week! Hope you enjoyed reading and let me know if you have any comments! Have a pleasant week ahead!