9 Flavors of Friendship

Best friends come in all sorts of emotional shapes and sizes. Sometimes only one person will do in an emergency. Some friends can fill many different roles. Here are a few types of best friends that I have observed:

1. The "Call me any day, any time when you're in a pinch" friend

I may not see them often. I may not remember how many kids they have or even where they are living right now. But we have a shared past and I just know that they will drop everything if I need them. It's the kind of friendship that may seem more casual but can revive within minutes.

2. The "I will always take your side and defend you" friend

They have total faith in me and will get angry when I am hurt, even if they can see that it's also partially my fault. They don't need to berate me or criticize me. They just shore me up.

3. The "Sure, why not?" friend

This is the friend who will be with you through all your crazy ideas. 

"Hey, Alysa," I asked one day. "Want to go to California today?" She replied, "Maybe just as far as Vegas." I agreed. But we ended up in California anyway. On a whim. Our parents were not amused.

"Hey, Craig. Let's go drive around Utah Lake and skip class." He would always reply, "Well, I really ought to be in class in a couple hours..... but okay!"

Man I miss those two! Life is so dull when you don't have the "Sure, why not?" friend around. Nobody to get out and do random things with. Like sticking processed cheese on Glen's forehead. Or talking about the benefits of various prime numbers on the bus, loudly, because we thought it was funny to see the hot chicks give us looks of disgust. Or carrying around a broken mother board and trying (successfully) to look helpless in the Computer Science building. (Geeks coming to the rescue are really so adorable, even if their inner Superhero was brought on by two wily, techno-savvy tricksters.)

4. The "No time has passed" friend

Here I have to give a nod to my friends in Arizona, Josh and Carolyn. Those two helped carry me through a fairly crazy period of life. We see each other every five years or so, but it's like we've been BFFs forevuh. Nothing is taboo with these people. We can admit or discuss anything and know that we won't be judged or criticized.

5. The "Quiet, Strong Support" friend

These friends are sometimes a bit of a yawner in the drama arena of life, but they are the ones we really depend on much of the time. Their opinion matters and we trust them in a crisis.

6. The "Everyday" friend

The person we walk with, talk with, go to movies with, laugh with and share all the details of our personal lives. I have to admit I don't really have any of these, which makes me kind of sad! It seems like everyone else in my neighborhood is this kind of friend with each other. At book club, they shoot out rapidfire questions to each other that totally baffle me: "Did X get her tooth problem resolved?" "Is X's step-daughter-in-law still sick?" "Can you believe that movie yesterday?!?" I try to look down and not be pathetic that I'm the only one in the room who is apparently not in the loop! 

7. The "I wish I were like you!" friend

I don't know if other people have friends like this. I have some friends in my life that I just admire so much that it hurts. I just think the world of them. I probably keep them up a pedestal that's way too high, but I don't think I let it show. 

8. The "convenient" friend

I don't think I have any of these friends, nor would I want to, because it's more of a leech type of friendship. This is the kind of friend that you love to have because they're popular or rich or throw great parties or get you great tickets. I would hate to have somebody desire my friendship for those reasons (although I think I'm safe for now:)

9. The "snarky" friend

They say it like it is. They drive you insane and make you want to strangle them, but for some reason, you trust them. Their opinion matters the most because you know they'll never give you crap. They'll speak it like it is. They're the Simons of your life. Love it, hate it, they are what they are.

Okay, that's it for now. What did I miss? What are your favorite kinds of friends?