This is my...Special Friend

A few days ago, I remembered an incident that happened when I went to lunch with my boyfriend, (we will call him W). At the time, he and I had been dating for only a few weeks and still in that awkward "new relationship" phase. We got our food, and went to look for a place to sit and bumped into his roommate (whom we will call B) at the time. I had previously met B in passing, so we were both familiar with one another but had never really conversed. As W goes to put his food down to sit down at B's table, he turn to me and says "Lena, this is Ben. Ben, this is ...*cue awkward pause* my special friend." I stood there, mortified that someone just called me their "special friend." I remember thinking, "no, your special friend is the hooker down the street. I am not your 'special' friend. I am your friend, your girlfriend, not a hooker." To me, special friend denoted a status that was completely separate from a committed relationship and closer to "lover".

Fast forward a year. I spent this Thanksgiving with a friend, L, and her family in Minnesota. The actual dinner happened at her uncle's house where there was a plethora of family, including her uncle A who had a serious case of word vomit when talking to me. Apparently, L's mother, when talking to A on the phone weeks earlier, mentioned that L was bring a "special friend to Thanksgiving. A Russian ballerina." So of course he acted awkward around me- he thought L and I were an item! What is even funnier is that L's mom did not realize the connotation of "special friend" when she used it, she thought it meant a "good" or "best friend".

Things I learned: be careful how you use special friend!