“Good friends are like cheap beer. It always makes you feel good, but is not afraid to kick your ass.” – Ali Bubba
Steel Reserve, Pabst Blue Ribbon, Keystone, Olde English, Natty Light. There is no doubt that these alcoholic beverages will make you feel good… well, of course after the third one or so. But there is always that time that will lift you up, and throw you down face first into whatever hard surface will suffice as a pillow. This is how you can tell your good friends from the people you just enjoy hanging around with.
“It always makes you feel good,…”
I knew this kid in high school, his was one grade behind me, but we grew up in the same neighborhood. I knew from a mutual friend that he was going through some problems at home. Most of which were normal teenage dramas, but everything was amplified by the sudden and heartbreaking divorce of his parents. His parents had one of those solid relationships that spilled out though the rest of the family and gave a very comforting feeling to everyone around them. He had an older sister who he looked up to for guidance at times, but she had been out of the house for a while and moving on with her own life. He didn’t feel comfortable talking with either of his parents because he didn’t want it to seem that he was taking sides in the divorce. So the only people he had to talk to were a close-knit group of friends. And when he really needed to talk, needed someone to listen, or just even hang out and release all of his tension, those friends were always there for him.
“…not afraid to kick your ass.”
Life was getting to be a little too much for this kid. His parents had turned the divorce process into an all out grudge match, which was forcing him closer and closer to choosing sides. This intensified the rest of his problems, even his daily tasks. He was starting to think about college and knew that he definitely wanted to get out of his hometown and hopefully leave all those problems there. He was learning about being responsible and growing into an adult. He had a part-time job that he juggled with school and sports, all while trying to enjoy the normalcies of being a teenager by making time to hang out with his friends. Everything started to pile up on him. He was getting more hours at work, school was getting harder and taking more time out of his day, and he was feeling a sense of extra freedom now that his parents were more concerned with the divorce then they were of where he was and who he was hanging out with. His feelings of loneliness and being worn out from all of his activities coerced him into some bad decisions. He started stealing pills from his mom’s medicine cabinet. Some of them were used to help him relax, while some were used to help him stay awake and finish his school work. His friends noticed a change in him, and confronted him about his recent behavior. Once he confessed, his friends really “clamped down” on him, and became extra involved his is daily activities. Stealing his mother’s pills only lasted a week. I believe this was due to his friends getting more involved with his life, and making him realize that friends can be a powerful tool to help you get through the hard times.
If you happen to be a friend of somebody who seems like they are headed down a dark path, don’t sit back for one second, be active. Let your friend know, constantly, that you are there for them. Most people don’t want to be a burden, but they don’t realize that they may become an even larger burden if they don’t get help immediately. Feeling alone is a very horrible feeling. If you are that person, feeling like nobody cares about you or that you have to do it all by yourself, read this carefully. Humans are not built to go through life alone. We all need somebody to help us through the bad times. Understand that your friends want to help you. Don’t be discouraged when they “kick your ass,” instead realize that they are the spark that will hopefully light that fire, and get you going in the right direction.
“Good friends are like cheap beer. It always makes you feel good, but is not afraid to kick your ass.” – Ali Bubba
