At the beginning of today I thought I'd be busy with work. That when I got done at 8-ish I'd quickly cook up a simple dinner, then settle into a boring evening (The Significant Other and I don't usually meet up on Mondays for reasons you don't have to know) amusing myself with Facebook, Blogger and Television.
Instead, what I learnt was that even when it looks like it's going to be a solo day, you can always squeeze in some time for friends. The ones that matter of course.
Between classes today I had a 2-hour break. So since the cash deposit machine at the corner of my block didn't want to accept my cash, I thought I'd go to the airport and use the one there. Not because there weren't any nearer to me, but because NL got off work (at the airport) at 4.30pm and my break was 4-6pm. The timing seemed just right, so I got there around 5, did what I had to do; we had a 15-minute meal together at Burger King which had to be continued in the van (fries and drink) and then I dropped her off at her place before heading home.
Time spent with NL - 50 minutes
After class ended at 8.25pm I zoomed off to East Coast Road to meet DC. I was to pass her some files from my hard disk. I figured it'd be at least 20 minutes to get everything copied over to her PC, so while that was getting done, we put on our sneakers and did some brisk walking around the block. Exercise AND gossip! By the time we got back all the files were done copying.
Time spent with DC - 45 minutes
Then it was off to meet DM. I wanted to pass him something and catch up on the latest news (we always have "latest news" for each other - even tho' I only just saw him 2 nights ago). And since we didn't think we'd be hanging around long, the plan was to sit at our favourite carpark, have a few smokes, drink a couple of canned drinks and then head home. Since said carpark is the one at NL's estate (we've sat there often enough on account it's close to DJ's home) I decided to see if NL wanted to come along. She did. And since it seemed like it was turning into a regular picnic, I reminded My Significant Other that he was welcome to come along if he changed his mind about staying in today. Which he did. And so the 4 of us sat at the carpark from 10 to 12.30.
Time spent with NL (round 2) DM and MySO - 2.5 hours.
Productive day? Hell, yeah! It makes me think about the times I tell people I'm too busy for them; I can't make it; I've been having a hectic day / week / month. Seriously, do people believe me? Cos I WOULDN'T... believe me that is. But we all know this. We figure out along the way that when we say "it's not a good time for me" what we really mean is "you're not important enough for me to make time for you". And just like that, a perfectly innocent phrase is bestowed with great meaning and importance. It's our way of figuring out what level the friendship is at. And we dance around this meeting-up game till we find the middle ground. At some point the frequency of the meet-ups is agreed upon by both parties, without specifics, without setting rules, without being explicit. But it gets sorted out. By itself.
And I'm glad most of us learn this so that no one gets hurt or has to be told straight to their face what we really mean when we make up an "I'm busy" excuse.
And so to NL DC DM and MySO - thanks for squeezing me into your day today too.
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