There’s something about being in love that seems to bring out the worst in some people. Sure, having a boyfriend or girlfriend is great, but not everyone is going to think it’s “cute” or “romantic” if you’re making out on the bus on the way to school. There’s definitely a fine line between tastefully showing your affection and engaging in over-the-top PDA (Public Displays of Affection).

Some people draw the line between affection and lust – if you’re doing something out of lust rather than endearment, it’s probably gonna gross people out. Then there’s the famous Your-Mom-Is-Watching test. For this one, the line is drawn wherever you’d start feeling awkward if your Mom were watching you and your significant other. As in, holding hands is OK, but sloppy kissing is definitely out of bounds. 

Even if you’ve got a great sense of what’s OK and what isn’t, the people around you probably don’t! One day your best friend might be cool and sarcastic, making fun of Valentine’s Day and all the romantic couples in the school hallways. The next day she’s got a boyfriend, and suddenly she’s staring at him dreamily and clinging to his arm. Yeah, it IS disgusting, but what are you gonna do about it?? If you say anything, your friend is likely to say that you’re “just jealous.” Lovey-dovey couples fool themselves into thinking that the rest of the world is just jealous (even if everyone around them is grossed out by their glued together faces and sounds of slurping and smooching). The walking-on-a-cloud feeling seems to go straight to their heads! With any luck your friend will come back down to earth someday, but until then you’ll have to deal.

So what can you do, besides wearing a uniform and acting as the PDA Police? Probably not too much, unless you’re willing to confront tongue-locked couples and disentangle them from one another. We’ve got some ideas under “How To,” as well as some guidelines on what is and isn’t OK to do in public.