One of the larger differences I have noticed since I switched jobs is
how my friendship quotient seems to have dropped a great deal.
The good thing about working with one's friends...is, well, you work
with your friends. You get to spend 8+ hours a day in the company of
people you actually enjoy. Work becomes, if not a little easier, at
least a little more enjoyable.
It all holds together, of course, until you leave that job. Then,
just like countless other times in school or college, you get busy
and they get busy and suddenly there is a gap which usually keeps
expanding. What is annoying and a little concerning is that I find
that this gap has expanded to encompass larger portions of my life.
Some of it is due to distance, some to activities that meet only
certain times of the year. The outcome has been the same – in some
ways, I have not felt this lack of deep friendships in some time.
Oddly enough, I am “friended” up on a certain social network
site. Which is nice - I actually probably know more people than I
ever have and probably interact with more folks than I have in many
years. But that deep level of friendship, those hours of
conversations, those shared experiences and stories – all lacking
at the moment.
A fair amount involves me, I am sure. Just with work and family, I
have become as inaccessible as I may have ever been, which matters
for friendship. And I certainly respect (now more than ever) the
boundaries of others with their families and their work and their own
lives. But the margins seem increasingly thin looking forward.
I would like to say I believe this will change but I am unsure how,
given that I do not see the catalyst for that change: I will continue
to work where I work and have the hours that I have and have the
family I have with things wedged in at the edges. Given that, where
does such a thing pop up?
When the Zombie apocalypse happens, I may become easier to make deep friendships. Or people may become more isolationist. If the electric grid fails, friendships may become a matter of survival; but then you'll have to be more careful.
ReplyDeleteSorry. I always feel like I have to comment. Sometimes people just think better putting their thoughts down. (I was thinking down on paper, but we mostly don't do that any more, do we?)
You and your family have a blessed weekend.
Comments are always welcome.
DeleteI think it would be easier, given the circumstances that I suspect most communication will be limited to physical exchange. So much of what I wrote of above is predicated on electronic communications.
Yup. I knew that. And I will miss my online friends when and if the electronics die; but I will remember you in my prayers.
DeleteHave a blessed Sunday.