Friends don't let friends...

I saw a t-shirt that caught my attention the other day,  and I will insert that I love noticing tshirts and admire the courage that  some people have in wearing them.  Some sport politiical leanings, some advertise (and not always what the wearer intended), some are just nasty, and some say profound things.

So saw a t-shirt in an airport vendor where you could buy coffee and donuts, let's call it Dunkin Donuts.  And I was there for the coffee, which is another conversation entirely.  This t-shirt said "friends don't let friends drink Starbucks."  I will admit that my first thought was, I didn't know this airport had Starbucks (it doesn't), but my next thought was how good it was to have friends.

Many, many years ago in somewhat of a wine induced stupor, my good friends confessed to me that they were not going to introduce me to any of their single male friends in the hope of "fixing me up."  But that they wanted all of their friends to know one another.  I appreciated there candor, and together we plotted out a strategy, which we keep to this day.  The person with the most friends wins!  And we have begun ever since that time collecting and sharing friends.  And what an enriching experience that it has been.

First, it has been a protective strategy.  Each of us have been able to alert the other about people that may not actually have friendship in mind.  I gathered in two work associates that were married to one another, and we really enjoyed the rich conversations and sporting events that we attended.  I introduced my new friends to my old friends, and later that evening receivied the warning "I think you need to be careful, they may not be who they appear to be."  I brushed off the warning, chalking it up to jealousy.  But  oh how right they were.  And when my long time friends met this single woman, and had her join our group, i instantly warned them that there might be something not quite right about her.  and the more time she spent with us the more apparent it became, that was indeed the case.

secondly, and more happily, it has become a strategy of extending myself and my search into a wider world than I could have imagained.  My closest friend invited me to her mediation circle, but warned me that they were all non-Christians or post-Christians and that I wasn't to feel out of place.  I promised to be comfortable.  I took my rosary, and planned on praying while they were sitting mediation.  Well, I pulled out my rosary and three of the women present pulled out theirs!  And after mediation we had a great conversation about the role of women in church and the ordination of women specificallly.

Finally, it has opened my horizons of places to go and see.  Turns out the more friends that you gather the more places they have been and can recommend, or veto.  And while your horizons get larger the world gets smaller.  So no surprise when sitting down at a dinner party, one of the couples introduced is from the small town where my neice goes to college.  And they are close friends with one of her favorite teachers.  And while in Colorado I meet a young woman on faculty at a seminary where a good friend of mine from Iona just graduated.

So while friends may limit the things you can or shouldn't do, like driving drunk or drinking another brand of coffee.  Friends make our life richer in so many ways.

The person with the most friends wins.