Friends. Good friends that is. They're a replacement family when your own is juuuuuuuuust a little bit mental. Or, if you have a perfectly sane family, they can be the people you talk to and rely on when you just can't bear to break the news to your lovely Mum that you're getting married to that skinhead ex-punk in his 50's who used to drink with your Dad down the pub. Oh, and he's just become a member National Socialism party and has a Swastika tattooed on his neck. Mazel tov! Erm, sorry.
Your mates however, will not frown down upon you for marrying Mr Hitler-wannabe. They will express their concern, they will ask you to think over your options and make sure you are definitely making the right decision. But they will not judge you and they will go along with whatever makes you happy. This, is a true friend. I sometimes watch chick flicks and feel a little bit envious at the gal pals who've been joined at the hip since the days of being bottle-fed. As I moved away from my East London birthplace when I was only 5, there wasn't anybody I felt particularly close enough to to bother keeping in touch. When I moved away from Essex I was only just 9 years old, or 10...I can't remember. I did then have some friends I knew I was going to miss, so we kept in touch. The problem was that I was the one doing most of the contact, then after some years they stopped bothering with me. Why be friends with someone who's over a hundred miles away when you can make friends with someone just down the road? I was sad, but had to accept they'd moved on. Now, thanks to the beauty of Facebook, I can get back in touch with old classmates - although I don't bother keeping in touch with those who gave up on me.
It was when I started work at Specsavers 6 years ago that I met Sarah, now one of my two best, closest mates. Then, when I started work at our local radio station, I got to talking with Emma who worked at HQ and realised she was definitely on my wavelength. She is now the second of my best mates. Aside from Sarah and Emma I have a small group of good mates who I know would never screw me over. They may not always share my opinions and they may not be the ones I call when I'm upset, but I know I can trust them and can rely on them when I need them.
A good friend is one who will be prepared to drive from miles away in the middle of the night to pick you up when you're unable to drive home through the tears, having just broken up with your boyfriend. A good friend is one who demands you go over to her house for spaghetti bolognese and a glass of rose wine and cry on her shoulder for as long as it takes. A good friend is one who offers you a place to sleep at her house in London, even though she has limited space, if you find a job that's too good to refuse but have nowhere to stay. A good friend is one who, after you've had to cancel the girls night out because you've lost your job and can't afford to go out, says "no worries" and hauls in pizza, wine and board games for a girls night in. As I'm sure you've probably guessed, these friends are mine. And even though we haven't "known each other since we were bottle-fed", we will stay knowing each other until we're uber-old and having to be bottle-fed by our carers, so it works both ways.
No comments:
Post a Comment