I got to thinking about this, as needles1987 has brought this up a few times. It seems like the media has a little taboo of being seen in public with someone of the opposite gender, who isn't your romantic partner.

I have seen this subverted in an episode of Saved By The Bell, where Kelly wanted to eat out with an old friend - and Zack, who she was dating, wasn't all too thrilled about that. At the end, he learns to accept that Kelly can have other male friends.

There still seems to be that thing, though - where, if your romantic partner catches you in public alone with another opposite gender individual, he or she will often assume that you're cheating. I don't have much experience in the dating department - but I'm guessing this is much more common in the media, than it is in real life. Siblings, cousins, and best friends are generally exempt from that rule - but, even then, the whole "cousin confusion" will sometimes come up.

Anyway, what are your thoughts? Is one obligated to inform his/her romantic partner, if he/she plans to be seen in public with another opposite gender individual? Or should there be a certain level of trust in a relationship - where one does not automatically assume the worst, when he/she sees his/her romantic partner with another opposite gender individual.

Of course, when you consider gays and lesbians, it brings a whole new dimension to this quandry. Like, would a girl expect her lesbian partner to only be friends with guys?

And by other male friends, he meant ones other than Screech and Slater, right?

I think everyone's allowed to be friends with whoever they want, regardless of gender.

Well, right, besides those two. Anyway, I agree with you. There should be a certain trust in a relationship, so that you shouldn't have to apologize or feel bad about spending time with another opposite gender person.

I sometimes think Zack's not a good person. He got Slater kicked out of driver's ed due to his unhealthy obsession with Kelly. When Screech got a black eye from his robot, Zack told the whole school that Slater punched Screech.

That's the thing, though. We tend to sympathize with him, but he does do a lot of things he should't've done.

I got to thinking about the story, where I first introduced Marty Jr and Harmony. I guess Jennifer should've had more faith in her boyfriend. However, when Harmony lied about being his cousin - that seemed to confirm her suspicions. It maybe was risky for Harmony to introduce herself as Marty's cousin, it case it got back to any of the other members of the McFly family.

Did Zack even realize he was hurting one friend to defend another friend? Talk about irony.

Are you talking about the robot punching Screech one? Speaking of which, which one do you think was Zack's "true" best friend - Screech or Slater?

I would say Slater. Zack often uses poor Screech. In the first season, Zack got along better with Screech, but Slater became his best friend after becoming friends.