The Friends I Don't Have

I don't have any "black" friends.

I don't have any "gay" friends.

I don't have any "Muslim" friends

I don't have any "cop" friends.

It's true; absolutely true.

I DO have friends.  

I have friends with different skin tones and shades.  I have friends who have different sexual preferences and orientations.  I have friends with different religious backgrounds.  I have friends with a wide variety of jobs and professions.  

But none of that matters. Because when I think of all the people in my life who are my friends I don't think of the color of skin or profession or religion or political opinion or any of that.  I just think of them as friends.  We are friends because we share one or more common interests.

So when or if I HAD to define a certain friend (and who really does any way?  What would be the point?), I would say:  he is my fellow Beatles fan friend or she is my Disney pal.  It is so much easier for me, if I had to, to define my friends by our shared loves rather than by things that really don't matter all that much to me.

Friends are not a color.  Friends are not a religion.  Friends are not a political party.  

I am here to tell you (if you didn't already know), that you can be a Republican and have a best friend who is a Democrat.  You can be Christian and have a Jewish buddy.  You may be a woman and have pals who are male, female and transgender.  

In the midst of all the violence and tension that is going on in our world, I want to remind everyone (who is bothering to read this) that we all are made up of the same molecules.  When we are children we make friends easily (usually).  We don't see differences; we see another kid who wants to play.  I may be naive, but shouldn't it be the same when we are adults?  We may no longer be playing in the sandbox, but we can certainly strike up a conversation in the check-out line at Target. (Or whatever your shop of preference might be.)  If we take the time, we might make a new friend without setting any prerequisites.

It comes down to a very simple thing:  the only thing I care about when it comes to friendship is that you are not a total A** hole.  (I can tolerate partial A's...after all we ALL have our moments.  I know that I have been a total B to various friends at times and being friends they have tolerated me, forgiven me and moved on.)  So you can be pretty much whatever you want to be and it doesn't matter to me.  (And in my opinion it shouldn't matter to anyone else either.)  We don't have to agree on everything to be friends.  We can have differing opinions on many things and still enjoy each other's company.  

I have plenty of friends.  But there is always room for more.  So if we happen to meet, smile and say hello.  I'd be happy to call you friend.

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