The-Anh Nguyen
By The-Anh Nguyen
Special to Northwest Asian Weekly
In these challenging economical conditions, people have the tendency to only seeing themselves in their own little bubble. For women who often complain about the guys’ night out or vice versa, I have some thoughts that I would like you to take into consideration.
In my opinion, the answer is no, there shouldn’t be any hanging out at nighttime — period. Remember when our parents cracked the whip during our teenage years? In their minds, nighttime is unsafe. So are late-night and early-morning hangouts just a stereotypical fear of the unknown?
As stated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, “Inexperience and immaturity combine to make young drivers especially at risk,” particularly at night. Driving is often more difficult and dangerous at night for everyone, and young drivers are even less experienced when it comes to driving in the dark.
A few years ago, I sat down and engaged in some honest self-reflection. I asked myself, Why do I need to be out at night with friends? Is it because I feel like I am free and relaxed and I can hide some of my responsibilities away in the dark night? Basically, it was so I can be less responsible and hang up my working shoes.
What were the impacts of hanging out at night? I had a short-term remedy that allowed me to get away from stress. The cost of an evening out was money I could have saved up for a better short-term alternative: a vacation.
With the factors clearly laid out, would any logical adult prefer to continue going out at nights? For me, no.
Any relationship between lovers will require a lot of participation and faith during difficult times. Whether it’s a night out with same-sex friends or just a night away from your partner, I am a firm believer in being self-disciplined. It controls your weaker emotional side.
I do believe that new couples should disregard a night out of fun with friends and instead opt for more personal affectionate time with each other. I do believe that the first few years of any relationship should be focused on face-to-face interaction and should avoid any distractions from friends.
Additionally, the money and time spent in a relationship is an investment in the couple’s future. Rather than blowing your savings for late-night outings, couples should consider having friends over during the daytime or during the weekend.
As humans, we are bound to 19 hours per day of required activities. We spend eight hours sleeping, eight hours working, two hours commuting to and from work, and another hour spent in the car for errands.
This leaves us with only five hours of free time. On average, this is all the time we will have on the weekdays for the next 40–50 years until we retire. The dollars and time that we spend during this time will affect our future. Inefficient late-night social activities will delay us from reaching our ultimate retirement goals, legally, financially, health-wise, and relationship-wise.
With all these considerations, I would like to ask the readers out there to post their comments, stories, and suggestions for alternative ways to build successful relationships on my blog at nightoutwithfriends.blogspot.com. (end)
The-Anh Nguyen can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.
