"This is one of my best friends, _____."
That is how most people introduce one friend to another, and it may also be the moment you, the introduced, realize that you are one of the introducer's best friends. Unless, as it came up in conversation the other day, you are Paul and the introducer is myself. Apparently I call everyone my "best friend," to the point where the phrase has lost its meaning.
Well, I definitely can't argue with the first half of that sentence. And Paul isn't the first person to point it out: Catmo used to roll her eyes every time she heard me say those two words. But how did it get that way? Why is it that I keep calling everyone my best friend?
I don't know for sure, but maybe it's because I really believe it. For starters, there's Jim, my best friend from college. Then there's Cal, whom I consider my best friend from high school. Catmo: she would be my best friend who knows exactly how to ride that fine line between laughing and groaning at my jokes. Dylan is my best friend from being RAs together. Kathryn is, of course, the best friend who magically pops up whenever I need someone to vent to. Of all my best friends, Sunny is the one who shares the most lulz and nomz with me. Lee is the one who steals the most lulz and nomz from me. Christin, my best friend who grew up with me. Nosheen is my best friend that I would go to for help with anything. Titan, as you may surmise, is my best four-legged friend. And even doubting Paul is my go-to best friend when I just want to hang out, whether it be in front of the TV, at a football game, on a hike, or as part of a trivia team.
Perhaps my problem is that I don't have just one best friend. I value each of the people I mentioned above for a different reason. And it's not even like I came close to listing each of my best friends: if you're reading this, then there's a 99% chance that I've referred to you as my "best friend" at some point. No, I'm not including you, Ukranian guy I've never met before who found my blog using the search term "i had watermelon and the next day i developed skin rash."
I guess I don't find it all that necessary to pick just one best friend. My one fear is that everyone else does, and then what? I'll never be asked to be somebody's best man, or even to be in a wedding party. It's actually something I think about a lot: I've been in a ton of weddings, but always as the pianist. Is it because my friends truly hold my piano playing in such high regard? Or is it really their way of keeping me from feeling left out without letting on to the fact that they don't consider me close enough to be a groomsman?
Maybe I need to find a best friend for answering rhetorical questions, too.
1 comment:
Ooh, good post. (Can you tell that it's the day before Thanksgiving and everyone else has left the office??) I feel this way sometimes, too - we'll just have to look back in a few decades and see how many times we were asked to be in our friends' wedding parties. :)
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