A friend is leaving tomorrow. Not a close friend and not
someone I've known long. In fact, its only been a month since I met the guy.
But he's one of those people that just fit into one of my worlds seamlessly.
My Hut World has been filled with so many people. Its a
crossroads for many of us: a place to stop and gather one's breath before
heading out into the wider world of one's ambitions. For some of us, me
included, its been a sanctuary as well, somewhere we can always come back to
when times are hard and that wider world has been cruel. There are a few
permanent fixtures (myself included here too) as well, the defining personnel,
without whom the Hut would be fundamentally changed.
This friend is one of the first category. He showed up a
month ago, fresh from a long road trip around the country, and not really sure
of where the world was taking him. Despite that, he felt comfortable
immediately. He was good at the retail
grind; he did his job well; he learned quickly. But besides that, he had
rapport with almost all of us. There were parties and nights out and lots of
interesting discussions about Hume and blues and Point Break. It was a good
fit.
But he wasn't a close friend at least comparatively
speaking. There just wasn't time. I wish there had been, though. Because even
if he wasn't, there are certain people you meet who don't need a lot of time,
who you immediately think when you meet "We are going to get along
swimmingly!"
In the age that we live in, I'm sure we'll keep in touch.
Facebook and Twitter and email and cell phones all mean we can communicate
pretty easily. But the personal bonds we make are still the most important, and
it doesn't matter how much potential friendship one feels with someone else, it
takes time to form those personal bonds. So today I'm sad a little. Not because
I'm losing a close friend. I'm not. I'm losing the potential for a great
friend, a fledgling relationship that is something much more fragile, something
so much more susceptible to the demands of distance and time.
I wish him well, of course, and will try to keep in touch as
best I can.
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