friendlies

There are ‘friends’ and there are ‘friendlies’.

Friends are true blue. People you still know well after nine years apart. Friendlies are the ones you just get on with because you have to. Because they’re colleagues or family or because you’d rather not be rude.

Today I’m minus a friendly. For good. Because I’m getting too old to deal with all the abrasive-sugar. The sweet but belittling. The ‘my upper middle’ vs. ‘your yankee (American) barbarism’.

Tomorrow, a parting look…