Monday, February 21, 2011
Moral Opposites For World Peace
General friendship follows and conforms to social and moral rules. True friendship flips those rules right around. It sounds strange I know, so allow me to explain.
If you are walking along, slip in a wet patch and land hard on your bum, a friend will immediately ask if you are all right and help you up. A true friend wont be able to ask because they are too busy laughing like a loon.
While visiting your house a friend will engage in polite conversation while you act as a good host, getting them drinks and making sure they are comfortable. A true friend will wander in, help themselves to whatever they want out of your fridge while complaining about their day at work. They may also fall asleep on your couch and start snoring loudly.
I bring this up because last night at the pub my best friend and myself were accussed of being neanderthals. My friend was talking to some old accquantainces. I walked up, looked at him and said - yeah. He replied - yeah, and I wandered off, returning a few minutes later with a beer for each of us.
Those two words were an entire conversation between us that went like this. “I am ready for another beer. It is my turn to buy. Would you like another one ?” (yeah pronounced with a slight lift at the end turning it into a question, accompained by a quick glance at his drink) “Yes. I have nearly finished this one. I will buy the next round” (yeah said with a slight nod of the head)
We have known each other so long that our speech has evolved to the point that we can have conversations with each other using just one word. The smallest expressions and gestures that accompany those words let each other know just what that word means.
All best friends develop these nuances over time, and they always seem to be the opposite of what is considered normal. This begs me to ask the question - Is what we consider normal an outdated concept left from a time when the world was a very different place ?
With the world in such chaos, including wars, thievery and murder, would we all be better off if we stopped doing what is normal and started doing the opposite ?
It works for best friends all over the world.
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