I was talking to IM a few days ago when (predictably) our conversation turned to relationships. IM, the notorious bachelor, seems to enjoy the life of a bachelor but said "I want to settle down someday."

"Um, okay." That's great, what's it got to do with me?

He then continued on without any regard to me, saying "The problem with you, pseudodoctor, is that you have too many limbo guys."
"The what?"
"You know, the guys you have nowhere to tidy into, so you have the ever-ambiguous 'I don't know what this is' category."
"Do elaborate."
"Well, there's me, there's J, there's your debate partner, e.t.c., of which you don't classify them as friends, because your warped definition of a friend is someone you don't have romantic interest in and neither do they to you. You have too many of them."
"Okay, you just put me off my yogurt."
"Sorry to hear that, but all I'm saying is, stop classifying people."

Which made me think. Do I classify people? Probably. I'm rather Aristotelian. I like things packed neatly away according to categories: colour, number, width, height, e.t.c. So there are my best friends, my female friends, my male friends. And then there are a few who don't belong anywhere. And when one of them tries to wiggle out of that little box, I freak out.

It is rather a mystery, because it looks like no one has this problem aside me. Most of my friends have "romantic interest", "friends", "don't care" section, while I have "Romantic interest", "eye candy", "friend", "Enemy", "Friendly Rival", and much more in the pigeon hole, and each person is neatly put away in each drawer. And then there is one drawer in the corner that says "misc", in which people like IM are thrown in pell-mell, regardless of all the other labels they might offer.

Should I stop labeling, or should I start more minute labeling?