Friends

No, not the TV show.  This post is about friends in my life.  My TV show, pictured over there on the left, just got cancelled by the way.

"Your friend is the man who knows all about you, and still likes you." - Elbert Hubard.  That quote would be a little better if it weren't so gender-specific, but still.

It is easy enough to find information on the Internet that tells us that relationships are the biggest key to happiness.  So what about someone who is a fairly strong introvert?  Well, the great book of collected wisdom also tells us that introverts (a group that definitely includes me) still want relationships, but it's the quality of those relationships that matters, not the quantity.

There have been times in my life when I had a lot of friends, actually.  Those times are easy to identify -- high school and college (at Berkeley.)  Elementary school and middle school too, if you want to go back that far.  It's easy to meet people when you are in the same classes with them day after day for years, or when you live on the same dorm floor with them.

However, since Berkeley, which I left when I was 19, I don't think I could ever say that I had very many friends.  Sometimes I have enjoyed a small circle of friends at work, but as I have moved from one job to another, I have lost them.  I've never been good about keeping in touch.  Other times, I have gone for long periods with few or even no real friends and have only stayed close to family members.  I can't say I'm really proud of that record; I should have done more to cultivate relationships and to keep the ones I had.

The good side of that is that now is one of the times that I have a few close friends that I really enjoy.  For the first time in my life, I have worked at the same company for more than four years -- ten in fact -- and I have eaten lunch every day with some of the same people for the last six years.  We don't do much outside of work, but we go out to lunch on occasion and at least acknowledge birthdays, and we know each other well by now.  I also keep in touch with one retiree who used to eat with us, and I enjoy the coworkers I carpool with.  That may not seem like a big batch of friends, and it isn't.  But trust me, it's a very high-quality group.