The rules? There aren’t any, obviously, which is why you wound up seeing a show you didn’t buy a ticket for.

The only rule I know of here is that we’re not allowed to have happy hour, which means that when a restaurant offers an after-work special, it’s usually about discounted chicken wings.

I understand why you believe that a Boston-area pub is sacred and not designed for intimacy on a Tuesday night. I’ve also been to California and Las Vegas, and both of those places seem like better spots for public displays of affection. We’re a bit colder here (literally), and the pub culture seems to be focused on food, sports, friendship, and maybe experiencing complicated feelings about repressed childhoods, but ordering another Trillium limited-edition IPA instead of thinking about it too much.

All I’ll say is that if you don’t like the view, you can leave. I happen to love PDA (within reason). Not to be gross and watch it like a creep, but because it tells me that people are out there hooking up, dating, falling in love, and being so into the person in front of them that they’ve stopped caring about how they appear to others.

The world is weird and we deserve happiness! If you see PDA and the people look thrilled, silently congratulate them … and then walk away so you never have to see them again.

Remember, now you have a story. The next time you’re in that pub, you can tell your companion about the time you saw two people go to town on each other at the stickiest table in the world. A well-told story can lead to displays of affection in private.

– Meredith

Readers? Any thoughts on Boston-area PDA vs. other cities and places? I will say … I haven’t seen much PDA here (except for at some noiser some nightclubs), which is maybe why it’s so jarring when it happens.