I had a long conversation with a good friend of mine recently about who their real friends and what being a real friend is all about. Being a real friend to someone means accepting and understanding their personal quirks and how they operate. I’m a good friend to this person and likewise for them, and this got me thinking. I think of all of the people I currently know who I am privileged to call my friends; there are some. I consider how many of those I communicate with regularly and whom keeps in regular contact with me. There’s a few. I then break it down even further by asking myself, if I needed any kind of substantial help, can I count on any of these people?
I’m not talking about the hundreds of thousands of friends most people have on Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, MySpace (yes I said it). I’m talking about real flesh and blood friends. Let’s face it. Most communication today is two-way interactivity via social networking and text messaging. It’s cold, impersonal, and distant. I miss people picking up the phone and calling me like they used to. I’m in staunch disagreement with the brush-off statement that this is a sign of the times. Nothing trumps a phone call (or handwritten letter). Nowadays it’s much harder to pinpoint someone’s psyche on what kind of person they are. Online postings tell a lot, but as they say in the Court of Law, nothing beats live testimony.
I gave my friend the unsolicited advice to simply cut out the dead wood and forget about them; concentrate on their real friends. It sounded pretty good; I should learn to practice what I preach (or pontificate).
You can’t hide behind a keyboard or smartphone forever; people do need to come out into the light and remember a little thing called respect and consideration and what being a friend is all about.
Try it. I bet you anything you’ll like it (once again)!