At Least I Got My Friends

“At least I got my friends.” That’s the tune the radio chirped out as I turned it on for a second.

I flew quite a bit as a kid. The very first time I was in a plane, I remember observing everything with minute detail. I remember even being confused when I heard people all around me taking off their seat-belts before the light was turned off. Weren’t we supposed to wait?

The second time I flew, I was already the little expert, and playing with the radio and eating skittles was much more interesting than the flight attendant. But my mom didn’t agree. She called my attention to the show up front, and said something along the lines of “If there’s an emergency, you are going to want to know that stuff.” I never forgot that. 

How many people would probably panic in a depressurization of the cabin because they don’t remember exactly what they’re supposed to do with the oxygen mask? But when it happens, it’s a little too late to learn. 

Life is tough. For you and for others. Life stings and often throws us down time and time again. A lot of things can go wrong, and let’s face it, they do go wrong. 

The present is the time to make friends. When you need them, the future is too late. And we are all have moments where we need a friend. Maybe right now things are just peachy: you have a good job, you’re healthy, no family problems, the weather is nice. But life isn’t perfect until heaven. And when we need to cry, it is good to have a shoulder nearby. 

I don’t know anything about this singer, but I like at least part of what she sang:

But at least I got my friends

Share a raincoat in the wind

They got my back until the end

If I never fall in love again

Well at least I got my friends

Like a lifeboat in the dark

Saving me from the sharks

Even know I got a broken heart

At least I got my friends, got my friends,

Got my friends, got my friends

Well at least I got my friends

But don’t go yet, there’s a second part to this reflection. So having a lifeboat in the dark is a motivation for me to make friends? No, but it also goes the other way. 

Let’s pretend you have a neighbor who has lived next to you for the last 20 years. You greet each other, see how he gardens, maybe complain to each other once in a while about the mailman and that’s it. You’re not friends. So what? Well, the day may come when his son is killed in a car accident. And suddenly you wish you could console him. Suddenly you would like to “share a raincoat in the wind.” Suddenly you want to give him that help that only a friend can give. But the future is too late. 

The point is not that we make friends just so that we can face crises together. Sometimes we only realize how important friendship is in the tough moments. 

Just like on that airplane: when the emergency comes, it’s no time to start studying the information card to figure out where exactly I am supposed to find the life vest. Build your friendships now. When the time comes, you will be grateful you have them, both when you need help and when you want to help others.

By David Yep