Blog Post 7: Barney Stinson's Platinum Rule

The Golden Rule says that you should "Love your Neighbor as you Love yourself" but in How I Met Your Mother there is a higher rule than the golden rule made by Barney Stinson and it is the Platinum Rule. It says that "Never ever ever ever love your neighbors and he means ( friends, co-workers, neighbors and any other that you can see often).  Platinum Rule aside there's actually no rule about to date or not to date your co-worker unless its in the company policy.

As I was browsing the internet I've read this article about Why You Shouldn't Hit On Your Neighbor by Chris Illuminati. This article discusses why you shouldn't hit on your neighbor in two different scenarios. One scenario is what if she rejects you ? First is "Every Encounter thereafter will be awkward", suppose you are reading his/her signals wrong  maybe he/she’s just being nice because you share the same sidewalks. You ask him/her out, he/she says no and now you have to deal with the uncomfortable exchanges every time you run into each. Second is "You will have made a bad first impression" if you hit on your neighbor or any other neighbors only after meeting them and got rejected there will be gossips that would fly around the entire neighborhood, do you really want to be known as the neighborhood gigolo only after a few weeks ? Other scenario is if she accepts you... First is he/she will move in right away. Well in every relationship things go well at first, time goes by and the next you know, he/she is squatting in your house. This will put an instant stain on the relationship. Because there is no transition period or getting to know each other while still being able to retreat to separate quarters. Second is when you break up, you'll still live together.  A bad scenario could be that you get her out of the house but she isn't out of your life. She still owns a place in the neighborhood. A terrible scenario could be that she already sold her place and now you have to wait for her to find a new place to live. The good news is that it won’t be in the neighborhood but the bad news is it could take longer than expected. It could be weeks or possibly living under the same roof.
This article defined why the gang forbid Barney for dating Wendy the waitress because they somehow might lose the bar that they want. But Barney insisted because he thinks that it would be convenient to date a waitress, its a free beer every time. We all know Barney, eventually he doesn't want to be in a relationship yet Wendy is hooked to Barney. That's why every single time Barney go to the bar there would be an awkward feeling that Wendy might sabotage his and his friends food. 

Second article that I've encountered is about The 10 People You Should Never Date by Suzie Robb. This article enumerates 10 people that we shouldn't date, but I would only pick some. First is the "Family Friend" your families will constantly meddling and you'll always sort of feel like dating your cousin.Second is "A Co worker" You’ll see each other for 40 hours per week at work and if it doesn't work out, every second of which will be horribly awkward. Third is "Your Personal Trainer" You are paying your trainer to get you into shape so that you can feel better about yourself, meet new people, and look better than others. Yes, spending two-three hours together per week could translate into a friendship and possibly dating. Date your trainer at your own risk and canceling gym routines can be a pain in the ass and you’ll likely never find another trainer that can take to 150lb to 100lb in two weeks. Fourth is "Your Ex" So, you run into an ex at a party. You both look great. You’re both single. You have a couple drinks and the familiarity comes rushing back to you. Same jokes. Same chemistry. Same horrible reasons why you broke up. If it didn't work out the first time,surely it won’t work out the second time. Fifth is "Your Roommate" it is a waste if you paid in the rent in advance and its non refundable because its hard to live with your roommate if your roommate is your ex. And lastly is "Your Neighbor" Sure, you don’t live together, it’s not nearly as bad. However, you will still see this person every morning. 

Bro Code:Article 83:A Bro shall, at all cost, honor the Platinum Rule

These two articles is a proof that Barney Stinson's Platinum Rule is true. The Platinum Rule say that "Never, ever, ever, ever, love thy neighbor". It seems that Barney thinks that loving your neighbors is a way to great chaos. His point is one should never date some that is seen or confront with everyday, like: Neighbors, Roommates, Colleagues, Co workers and many others.. because such relationship never work out in the end and just lead to never ending awkwardness to those persons who are involved. Also Barney mentioned that eventually you will have to go through eight steps. First step is the "Attraction" this is the sign of the first rule. It is when you get too attached to a person. Second is the "Bargaining" its the time when you're looking for a reason why both of you are perfect for each other. Third is the "Submission" its the feeling when both of you feels the same for each other. Fourth is the "Perks" it would look like both parties are happy for each other. But sooner or later there will always be a time that fate will rip both of you apart. Fifth is the "Tipping Point" the time wherein your relationship seems to be tighter until it chokes you, until it hurts one or both of you. Sixth is the "Purgatory" this is where you feel that you need to get out of the relationship. I'ts the time when one of you or both you get irritated but you can't say it directly because you don't want to hurt anyone specially your special someone. Seventh is the "Confrontation" The time you say "we need to talk.." you had enough of the fights, the misunderstandings, the pain. "Its time to end this." one walks away. The other, just stays. Eight is the "Fallout" this is the time when both you tries to be cold or avoid each other awkward silences, everything about him/her just kills you. Sad ending? Not really. There is one rule that will overshadow these feelings, the pain, the awkward silence. everything it is the "Rule of Coexistence" sooner or later you will accept to yourself that its over.You'll realize that those awkward silences will fade. The pain both of you obtained. The feelings will also fade, but it will be replaced with something better..