DELICATE DANCE OF FRAGILE FRIENDSHIP

 

 

Can friendship survive if you say the wrong thing at the right time, the right thing at the wrong, or even the right thing at the right time.

 

If someone says the wrong thing at the wrong time, the friendship is doomed. No matter what the relationship, the wrong thing at the wrong time feels like an intentional act.

 

Seen from afar, friendship seems ironclad, like the ultimate bullet proof vest that invites the best shot. ‘Go ahead and fire away, I won’t feel a thing,’ isn’t a friendly invitation. Do not accept it.

 

People want to hear what’s on your mind as long as it conforms to the expected, the norms, already laid down. Go ahead and be different, just not that different. Too different and you’ll be shopping craigslist for new pals.

 

The breakdown happens fast, but sometimes slow. The divide breaks off like a landslide, but there’s always a few signs ahead of it.

 

Like these signs:

 

On one day two friends agree that Mr. Trump is the greatest president in the history of the universe with his ingenious wall building plan, his super helpful healthcare plan, and his great tax reform. They compliment each other on their new Make America Great Again hats, and MAGA feels so right.

 

It’s all good until one of them reads a post, opens a paper, or changes the channel off Fox News. They meet for a drink later that day.

 

“Hey man, where’s your MAGA hat?”

 

“I can’t wear it anymore.”

 

“I bought you that hat. You have to wear it.”

 

“It makes me feel weird after hearing about President Trump from other information sources.”

 

“You mean fake news? What happened, did you read the Washington Post? Listen to OPB? I thought we agreed on that stuff.”

 

“We do, I just don’t want to wear the hat.”

 

“Then give it back.”

 

“I can’t. I burned it.”

 

“We didn’t burn our LeBron jersey’s when he left Cleveland, or when he left Miami.”

 

“I won’t burn it when he leaves The Land again.”

 

“But you burned the hat? So pay me back.”

 

“It was a gift and I burned it because it was mine.”

 

“You owe me.“

 

“I don’t owe you anything.”

 

“Pay up. I bought the real thing, not the Walmart knockoff. Let me see your wallet.”

 

“No.”

 

“Give it to me. NOW.”

 

“Know what I’ll give you? Grab for my wallet again and I’ll give you a punch in the face.”

 

The two men start fighting, but it’s not like Liam Neeson in Taken, Taken 2, or Taken 3. The fight doesn’t resemble Keanu Reeves in any of the John Wick movies either. Instead they look like two kangaroos on their first try to throw a punch, pawing the air in front of each other.

 

The man who burned his MAGA hat yanks it off the other guy, stomps it to the floor, and grinds it like a cigarette butt.

 

“Oh no. Now it’s on. You crossed the line, man.”

 

===

 

Where is the friendship line? How far can you go across and still make it back?