A metaphysical slap upside the head every once in a while can do wonders.

I saw a couple of friends in the Imaginary Invalid down in Denver last night at the 73rd St Theater last night, and it was very funny! I recommend it.

Afterward we hung out and watched MST3K until about 1:30am. Rather than drive back, I crashed on her couch that night. I was still lingering and putting off going back up to work the next morning when the landlord came to fix one of the cabinets. Although Cris introdced me as her friend who'd just come to see the show, it was obvious he was making assumtions about a friend of the opposite sex who'd spent the night in a single girl's appartment.

In the past when Cris or I visited each other and went out and did stuff together, it never really bothered me whether people assumed we were a couple or not. What did get to me though, was that Cris was bothered enough by it that she would go out of her way to make sure that total strangers knew we weren't dating. Like it would hurt her social standing or something. One day after she finished explaining to the cashier in the third shop in a row that I was just a friend she was visiting, I finally got fed up and told her, "Just say I'm your brother. It's faster." (We both have red hair, so it's easy to believe.)

This morning though, seeing the look on her landlord's face I could practically hear his thoughts. It was uncomfortable enough to get even me to try to formulate an explination of the platonic nature of our friendship. If that's what Cris feels every time she thinks someone is assuming we're a couple, I can understand a lot more why she feels the need to correct them. Still, I'll probably just start referring to her as my sister, since it really is faster.