“That’s what friends are for…”
Sang the vultures in Jungle Book, but hey, what do they know?
It’s true though, friendship affords you all sorts of discretions, mistakes and assumptions. I’m not suggesting for a minute that friendships should be abused but let’s just say that they are fairly robust.
Most of the time.
So what to do when a friend does something you don’t agree with? Be there for them at all times, through thick and thin? Or is honesty the best policy? I don’t want to get into specifics here (although I’m pretty certain the people directly involved don’t read this) suffice to say that, in the immortal words of Han Solo: “I gotta bad feeling about this”.
Of course I guess I should get my own house in order, but I have the advantage of being a bloke, I don’t have to [insert stereotypical comment about women, phones, and length of time spent chatting about not a lot]. We just meet every six months or more and pick up where we left off. The odd email and phone call is enough (I think… guys? Am I right? Should I make more of an effort?)
Another part of friendship is evolution, adaptation. We all change, within ourselves, with the addition of partners, new jobs, new lifestyles etc etc. Aside from ‘that’ blip Louise and I had, we’ve been together for almost 10 years now so I’m hoping our friends are used to that by now… but then as we were all friends from the outset I guess it’s a little different (or is it?).
So maybe that’s the lesson I need to take from my own experience. Things change, we don’t necessarily agree with them but as a friend we support and listen and console and encourage, as and when required.
THAT’S what friends are for…
I think those vultures may have been on to something.