Friendship(s)

What are the ingredients for a friendship? Some friendships are formed through common interests like stamp collecting. Some because of religion, like they are form their friendships because they were in the same cell group. Some by association, like they were in the same school or maybe even in the same class. Others are formed because of common experience, like yeah, they were both in the same National Day Parade when the parade commander cocked it up.

In a friendship that has started, what keeps it going? Between some past that is half-forgotten and a future that has yet to materialise, what makes people want to connect in the present?

I was on my way to town in the NEL when I overheard some junior college girls talking rather loudly (it was a day without my etymotics) about their friendship. Having been in the college for a year at least and perhaps seeing their seniors collect their results, one of the girls was wondering out loud if they will still remain friends when they leave college. Another replied confidently that it was obvious that they will be and sounded perturbed by her lack of faith.

I remember collecting my O level results. I think the guys stayed over at yf's place that night. jados and elaine went home. we met the next day after collecting the results. I remember ah pui, pinto (shit, did I get this right), lanois, joddy, yumei and sashay. I remember collecting my A level results. Finished a bottle of gin with ys next to the river. Was still nursing a hangover and asking for a panadol when I turn up in school to collect the result slip.

And the best thing about having remembered all these is that I still have them as friends. Well, lanois is further now but we still meet yearly or so. Just met yf and fsr last night and we were finally talking about things people our age normally talk about haha. Halfway through the conversation, Jados sms that she was back home and I immediately called and passed the phone around.

I'm glad v can call these people her friends as well.

Friendships that are formed because of a single reason (association, interest, religion etc), from my own observations, are not robust. People come to know a single dimension of you. People make assumptions of you because then things become categorical and makes for easy living. I still jump to conclusions but I've learnt that I am not always right. I do make assumptions but I realise that asking a simple question can erase alot of doubts.

I think that the above may be the reasons why we are still in constant touch with each other. It's because we make less assumptions about each other and choose to question when in doubt. But I still can't figure out why we do that.

Keep it that way.