“can we really have opposite-sex friends?”– Short answer: Yes, as long as you a

–“can we really have opposite-sex friends?”–
Short answer: Yes, as long as you are both in secure relationships or you’ve been friends for a very long time.

I’m a Man not a Guy. And I’m career Tech CEO and very minor public intellectual.
I talk to all sorts of women I’m not at all attracted to or interested in, and would never be. (Although young women today are obviously almost univerally broken – so I avoid them.)
I do spend business time in public with women. It’s a necessity. Especially employees, salespeople, vendors, customers, activists and almost anyone who wants to speak with me.
I have generally had executive assistants I spend a lot of time with and value deeply. (Work WIfe).
I do not spend ‘friendship’ time with women unless in public, and only for coffee, lunch, or dinner.
I have generally had female friends who provide good advice. Women have a different perspective and I value them.
I prefer to spend time with a woman I am friends with along with her significant other – and mine. I would never make any man uncomfortable in any way – it would be ‘wrong’.
I suspect this is because I am gregarious and confident and am totally uninterested in any woman other than the one I’m married or almost married to. 😉
I used to make use of the girl-gossip network in my companies because the admins know everything and a good relationship with them means they alert you to potential problems. And that provoked some odd suspicion I had more than professional interests.
Every time its been suggested that I have an interest in a woman in the workplace (or out of it for that matter) it’s been false. And I’ve even taken the heat for a business partner that was ‘enjoying’ one of my assistants.
It’s very very common for younger women to pursue older successful male execs, and while it’s sometiems flattering it’s largely annoying. 😉 I can’t believe some of the things women have said to me despite knowing I have a long term girlfriend, or am married. Not all women are timid.

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