A Tribute To Epic Friends
Most of the 365 days in any given year usually aren’t that memorable. It’s easy to fall into a rut – wake up, eat breakfast, go to work, answer e-mails, make some phone calls, use the restroom, talk to your colleagues, eat lunch, answer more e-mails, talk on the phone some more, talk to your colleagues some more, get a pick-me-up snack or coffee, use the restroom again, do more work until the clock hits the time you’re allowed to leave your desk, shut down your work station for the night, go to the gym, purchase takeout for dinner or eat at home with your significant other, talk about your day, watch TV, prepare for tomorrow, and go to sleep. Then you rinse, repeat, and the next day is basically the same as the previous one. That can become your life if you allow it or sometimes it just becomes your life whether you want it to be or not. It’s also the reason why you need that epic friend – the person who has the ability to turn any ordinary situation into an extraordinary one and who will add a much-needed spark back into your life. Anything you do with this person you know will always be, “Legen–wait for it–dary” to steal Barney Stinson’s catchphrase from How I Met Your Mother, even though your epic friend probably has his or her own catchphrase when you’re together.
This friend manages to not only track down tickets for the sold out concert, but you end up backstage drinking and hanging with the band after the show. You go to a club expecting to wait in line, worrying about whether they’ll allow you in or not, but end up sitting at a table with bottle service and are treated like a VIP the entire evening thanks to this friend. He or she can talk him or herself into any situation and also knows how to talk him or herself out of any situation. He or she is the closest thing to a high roller casino host you’ll come into contact with throughout your entire life. He or she knows which of your friends like to party and which ones don’t, as well as who can tolerate lots of liquor and who is going to end up passed out drunk at the end of the evening if they’re not brought a steady stream of water and food throughout the day. This friend also plays intermediary and knows how to defuse any arguments between friends in the group.
You may see this person every weekend or only twice a year, but when you hang out with this friend, you know you’re going to need about a weeks worth of recovery time for every day you spend with him or her. When this friend goes out, he or she hits the town like a tornado with the aftermath evident based on how everyone else in the group is feeling the next day.
What makes this friend so special is that he or she isn’t doing all of this for him or herself. He or she is doing it to make sure everyone else is having as good of a time as humanly possible and living life, albeit briefly, the way you usually only see in movies. What gives your epic friend pure joy is seeing the smile on your face, knowing that he or she created a moment in time that will never be recreated and most definitely won’t ever be forgotten.
If you don’t have a friend like this, you should find one.