Introducing your SO to your friends can be a big step if they don't already know them. It makes them more a part of your life in a way, and it signals that the relationship is getting a little bit more serious. Plus then you get all your friends' opinions, which you may or may not want to hear. And of course, worst case scenario, things can just go terribly wrong. This concept is especially scary for me right now because the guy I'm dating is significantly older than me. While for the most part this doesn't matter because I am pretty mature for my age (and so are most of my friends), and he's a pretty laid back guy, I am a little more cautious about what events I invite him to with my friends. For example, last night I went clubbing and I felt like that might be weird for him to come clubbing with a bunch of people in their early 20s. Of my two friends who have met him, one really liked him. The other, well, she hasn't really talked to him at all. She was there when I met him and she is a little judgmental. She was basically like "he's way too old for you." And ever since then has made fun of me for dating him. So I'm not all that inclined to hang out with the two of them at the same time. But actually, there are a few other friends of mine who are being judgmental about the situation too, and that makes it a lot more scary to introduce them because my friends are going into it with preconceptions and so they won't give him a fair chance. Luckily a few of my friends who disapprove don't live here (they're friends of mine from MN) and so I don't have to worry about introducing them unless things get WAY serious between us (in which case I would hope my friends would be able to swallow their disapproval and be supportive friends by getting to know him for who he is).
It's also hard in reverse - when I'm meeting his friends (and I've met a few of them) because I suspect some of them also have preconceptions about me, being so much younger (or if he hasn't told them that I'm so much younger, I think they're thrown off by it when they meet me). Or one of his friends that I met mentioned that his wife is pregnant with their second child. That made me feel weird because I was like "whoa... age difference... I'm so young and you're... not..."
How do you feel about introducing your SO to your friends who don't know him/her? And is it scary being introduced to their friends? Any horror stories (or really positive stories) to share?
Comments (3)
I recently introduced a guy that I've been dating on and off to my friends at a Halloween Party. He's REALLY shy so I made sure to explain it to my friends and it went over really well. My friends approached him one on one and they all got to know him.
My boyfriend knew my friends before he knew me... He's president of the archery club in college...
Uh, the time before that, my friends and I were at the café in college when I bumped into the guy I was seeing. And my friends didn't realise until an hour later who he was. So I have no horror stories, but it's not really a big deal, as far as I'm concerned, because I'm only 18. =)
Oh dear, well I kinda flopped and tried to introduce my best friends to him before our first kiss. Not very clever. He was pretty intimidated by how close we were, but thankfully my friends took the initiative and buggered off so that we could have some time alone. xP