I will offer this much of a defense, based on what I've read from the women on the boards -- particularly a certain almost-WAW: she's confused and scared. So I'm prepared to extend a good amount of slack there in terms of the roller-coaster, as irritating and frustrating as it can be.
(Personally her aside about the institution of marriage is of considerably less importance to me at this point. I'm not going to get spun up on parsing that. If she wanted a life-long committed relationship that was called "civil union" or "Fred," that would be fine by me. If Bob and Chuck get "married," I don't think it has any impact on my relationship, but that's me.)
What intrigues me is the explicit openness to the possibility of romance. Because that gives me, as both DB Coaches have pointed out in earlier discussions, an opening as I move through "Stage 2" (Friendship) towards "Stage 3" (Courtship).
But again that's getting ahead of where I'm at in the DB game.
Other reactions? Myself, I don't disagree with her assessment that (a) friendship is a necessary precondition and (b) separation would (possibly) facilitate that precondition -- both DB Coaches I've spoken with have essentially the same assessment.
