What Kind Of Friends Do You Have?

Lately, I’ve theorized that there are two kinds of friends, and one is a higher-quality version of the other.  Having plenty of the first kind is better, but the real one?  The weapons-grade friends?  It’s what you gotta have to stay healthy.

The two kinds are:

• Friends Who Want To Face You
• Friends Who Want To Face The Same Way

To some…  you’re only worthy of a meal.  Or coffee.  When it comes time to “hang out,” you’re going to be doing one of those things, and when it’s over, your hangout is over.  The fact that meals come with a pre-determined ending only works in their favor.  They have established you as a “facing” friend, which is not bad.  Friends are friends, and you should be thankful for the friends you do have.  Maybe they’ve got somewhere to be.  Maybe they have prior commitments that preclude lengthy hangouts.  Maybe they’re legit tired, and you can’t possibly compete with an early bedtime.  Maybe that’s all true, and maybe you’ll never know if they’re true.  So treasure those friendships.

Then there’s the next tier.  There’s the friends who want to face the same way as you.  This can be literal; they want to sit on the couch with you and spend their free time with you.  They want to go to a show with you and experience something next to you.  They want to go on a road trip.  They want to ride on your boat.  They want to fly somewhere with you.  They want to face the same was as you.  It can also be figurative; they want to face problems with you.  When you are facing adversity, they are standing behind you when you are strong, beside you when you are nervous, and in front of you when you are weak.  These friends are the real deal.  These friends have decided that hangouts with you need no designated end-time.  These friends will fall asleep next to you, perfectly at ease and comfortable.  These friends are hard to find, and very hard to keep.

Get you some of both.  But make sure you have both.

~Jake from 98.7 The Bull