Raina Cohen

that may or may not be recognized in the heat of the moment, like in a hospital, because it's not something that people are used to.

They're used to this status that's associated with marriage or associated with being a family member, but not to the idea that a friend can be significant.

So one thing that I saw from different

legal scholars was a proposal to offer legal alternatives to marriage like that there you know when you go to the dmv you designate a person um who is the default person to handle medical and legal things in your life and that um and that would be especially helpful for people who aren't married but um you can also uh you know in other cases you would be able to assign rights to different people which again is something that you can do if you spend a lot of money and have the wherewithal

to go through a lawyer for different sorts of contracts.

But that's not accessible to most people.

It's not like $20 or $30 in the way that a marriage license is.

So having a way that the state could recognize relationships that are not romantic or familial in nature would be a really big step.

Yeah, it's interesting.

I mean, I think that...

People are more content when they have a life that sort of holistically feels full.

I know that there is research also.

I mean, if you're thinking specifically about friendships in the workplace, that that can be

really have effects on retention if people feel close to others at work.

But if you're talking about close friendships outside of work, and let's say it's an occasion like someone is sick in their lives, I think people will feel a sense of

gratitude to the organization that they are being seen as a whole person who isn't just there to be a kind of cog in the machine and where there are very narrow exceptions for when they're not allowed to work.

I think people respond to that really well and it feels in line with different kinds of affinity groups within organizations or the way that people can be really committed to a workplace that gives them high quality family benefits because they think that that will better allow them to experience the entirety of their lives and not feel like they're compromising

you know, getting promoted at work and that kind of thing.

So I can imagine that businesses would benefit and have happier and more devoted employees when these sorts of relationships are recognized.

Yeah, it was really important.