Recently my girlfriend(BDS) took a long weekend to visit me in the Sota. We had a wonderful time, and had the opportunity to hang out with varying groups of people. Each group had a very different dynamic about them when it came to the way they interracted with one another and the way in which they welcomed strangers to the fold. In casual conversation BDS mentioned that she understood why I hung out with each group of friends and that she knew the purpose that each group served.
Quick disclaimer: These groups are not mutually exclusive and some people reside in both.
Group A (Friends of Convenience):
This group simply satiated one's need to be around others. They weren't brought together due to having similar interests, belief systems, or anything of that sort. They were all joined by the fact that they reside in a similar geographic region and are all new to the area. This drove us all together and caused us to take in tons of happy hours and parties. I found myself constantly partaking in various activities with which I would not generally associate myself with. I hate parties to the nth degree.
Group B (The Homies):
This is the group that actually comes from all over the metro area to spend time with one another. We travel in packs to partake in various activities that are both new and exciting to the group. We take time to experience the city that we now call home. This group reminds me of the people that I dealt with in both high school and college. These friends quickly became my closest confidents. The first time I hung out with this group we actually sat up and discussed the ramifications of electing our first black president. It was a that time that I knew I was at home.....
Group C:
There is no group C, I just don't feel that it's appropriate to have an A & B without a C.
Upon further examination, I realized that I've always had similar classifications of my associates/friends.
In High School
Group A) would be the people in all of your classes and organizations that you had the same lunch as.
Group B) would be made up of the people that you cliqued with freshman year and then transferred schools, but once you had your license and a car, ya'll were right back at it (shout out to my friends from the View).
In College
Group A) The people that have achieved similar goals to your own (organizational, scholastic, or professional) that thrusts you in similar situations. This can be easily tested by checking to see the last time you all spoke once college was over.
Group B) That core group that you became close with in your first classes, or in that first orientation meeting in your dorm, the ones you sat next to in the pinning ceremony (HU Freshman right of passage) and were hooded by at graduation 4 years later (I love you lil sis).
What have we learned class? All people are in your life for some reason or another. In some way they serve a purpose for taking up that spot. I'm not charging you to take inventory of where your friends lie within these groupings, just sharing a fact of which I have recently become aware.
