Meeting The In Laws And Ex's. We Rate The Most Nerve Wrecking.
When do you feel 100% comfortable in a relationship? From day one? When you meet their sister? When you've finally got them up the aisle...WOAH...IAN...DON'T GO THERE!! Ok sorry guys, too early to be whispering wedding bells just yet...but perhaps it's after one of these pressure cooker introductions..to those close to your other halves.
1. The Parents
The most nerve wrecking of all, for males its probably easier to meet the mother first for females the father...for reasons explained here and here. You must walk in having just been told how great they are while also being aware that you are no where near the expectations that they have for their precious little girl/boy. Step parents are slightly easier because they have had a glimpse of the outside world and won't be as biased or sceptical of you.
Pressure rating: 5/5
2. The Best Friend
You will be also needing to hit it off with the best friend...they will know your other half inside out including the things that you are never likely to hear. More often than not they will be fairly similar in personality to your squeeze but will the jealousy kick in when you take away some quality time from them...tread softly and you'll get the blessing you require.
3. The Brother/Sister
This will go one of two ways, they'll love you or hate you. There's no lukewarm or in between feeling here. I've seen it from both sides, having both loved and hated my brothers girlfriends and seen girlfriend's siblings both hate and love me. They ones that latch onto you will be more devastated than your other half when your relationship ends whereas the ones that hate you probably hatched the devious plan that caused the break up in the first place or at the very least are extremely happy to see the back of you...
Pressure Rating: 3/5
4. Work Colleagues
They see your significant other on their best behaviour day in day out and only the tame side of what they are capable of (depending of the nature of your job of course)....The work colleague will know little of the venting that is done in your vicinity once home time comes. Chances are you will have heard much about them before you meet them. It's also a gauge of seeing if you're spoken about outside the relationship, and are you thought highly of... but other than that they have no where near the influence of anyone else on this list...unless it's a family business.
Pressure Rating: 1/5
5. The Ex
They'll either be stalker like or happy for their ex to have moved on and found someone like you. If they're the latter then the actually might be a bit of craic to talk to or at least bearable should you ever happen to bump into each other. If they're the former you may need the cops on speed dial or perhaps keep a hurley inside the door of your gaf. Either way, obviously there are reasons why it didn't work out for them, and if those reasons aren't volunteered to you... do you really want to know them?
Pressure Rating: Anywhere from 1 to 5 depending on current psychiatric stability....
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