According to google, a best friend is a person you share mutual affection with; someone with whom you share a stronger form of interpersonal bond than an association with. You can hang out together, share a house, appreciate each other but in most cases when your best friend is of the opposite sex, it might be hard sharing a bed with them. Why? Isaac Ssejjombwe spoke to a few young people about their views on this.
Simons Sipate Sembuya, CEO Sketch Agency
My female friends are safe with me, but if I have a crush on her, I would not risk because anything can happen. I respect my friends and I know my limits, so I would not compromise our friendship by putting myself in such a situation. That said, I have so many female friends I have shared a bed with but nothing happened.
Shamirah Nalwoga, Student
I cannot trust a cat with milk. We can share a room but not a bed. Males are unpredictable. He can change in a minute, so it is better to prevent it in the first place.
I am speaking from experience because I had a male best friend in my second year at university. I had a simple gathering at my place and I invited a few friends and the party went on until late. But when most of my friends left, he said it was late and he could not go back home. That had never happened before but since he was my best friend, I did not want him to feel abandoned, so I let him sleep in my couch. He was restless the entire night and before I knew it, he was knocking on my bedroom door, claiming that he was afraid to sleep alone. I advised him to switch on the light but he declined, saying he wanted to sleep with me.
Irene Namara, Businesswoman
Unless I have feelings for him, I would not. It is the thought that the guy will not behave himself because most men cannot be best friends with a girl unless they are attracted to her. So when you sleep on the same bed with him, you can be sure that all sorts of fantasy thoughts are roaming through his head.
Besides that, if you sleep on the same bed, he will take it as a sex invitation. I am not saying all men are like this, but prevention is better than cure.
I would advise girls to never put themselves in such a compromising situation. That is how some women get raped either by their close friends or relatives. Things of sleeping on the same bed are tempting.
Ronald Kanyerezi, Technician
I would, but that would only depend on whether she is in a situation where she has nowhere to sleep; say we have travelled together and there are only single rooms available or if she has nowhere to go after a night out. But I have never been in such a situation before. Having a best friend of the opposite se is so tricky, especially when either of you is married or are in a serious relationship. You must know your limits because most times such friendship is likely to die because there is so much mistrust, clash of interest or insecurity.
Juliet Bata, Peer educator and public speaker
No way! We are not siblings and feelings can be developed with anyone. Who knows, he might have been keeping quiet with his feelings and waiting to use the chance to show his true colors.
If he really has to sleep at my place, and I have one room, then he would have to sleep on the floor or in the chairs but not my bed. I can only provide him with beddings.
Ben Kinene, Researcher
I would not because anything is possible once you are not related. One thing I have realised is that the more you do it, the more you bond. It all starts with a friendship. Much as you might know each other because of the friendship, somehow things might be triggered and that may be a deal breaker to your friendship.
I have not been in such a situation but I know many people who have lost their friends under such circumstances. I know a guy who was invited to sleep over at his best friend’s home. Because she was the type that sleeps care freely, the guy was tempted during the night and what happened thereafter was them sleeping together for more than a month and before we knew it, they had broken up in a terrible manner. They do not speak to date.
Caro Otte, IT specialist
Just like some female friends go on to be as good as sisters, some male friends after a while become brothers. While it is true that many males get attracted to their female friends, if nothing happens between the two of you in the early stages of your friendship, you can go ahead to brother/sister zone each other and get over whatever attractions you might have had. And when that happens, you can share a bed without any worry. I have about five such male friends.
Sharing a bed with a friend of the opposite sex is not something that I will do unnecessarily. But if need arises, I would without thinking twice. I have been in situations where I have been forced to share a bed with my male friends and I have done so without worrying about anything awkward happening. In fact, once when we were in a remote place without means of getting back to the city or money to spend on separate lodgings, I had to share a bed with two of them while three other males shared the other bed. I slept at the edge but nothing inappropriate happened in the night. I would do it again if I had to and I am sure that there would be no awkwardness.
