One Friday evening while I was in Umuahia recently, I was with my friend, Dixon and his brother, KC. We were coming home from a stroll and the weather was windy as though it was about to rain. I told the both of them that from the way the weather was, it was going to rain so we should start running but they told me off that it was just threatening.
We walked a little then it began drizzling. I told them again that we should start running now it’s not raining heavily but they said that it’s how the rain does around that area, it only rains in the middle of the night. We walked a little more and I still was insisting we ran but they still walked majestically as though it wasn’t about raining. Then it began to rain and before I could say “Ray Reddington”, the two chaps had zoomed off.
Now, the thing is these two are slimmer than I am, so they were faster. Running was nothing to them. Me, I was bigger and the little run I made, I felt like life was leaving my body. I had to walk the rest of the way to the house under the heavy downpour while Dixon and KC had reached the house with little rain drops on them.
We all laughed and joked about it. But Dixon made a very important likening of the situation to that of bad friends and I couldn’t help but agree with the comparison. I saw sense in it.
Sometimes, you do things with friends and you get that feeling to leave that thing while it’s still early but then these friends tell you that’s it’s all cool and that nothing is happening. You then see signs enough to make you leave but you still hearken to the voice of those friends. When push finally comes to shove, you realise that those friends have the ability to get out of that situation unharmed whereas you are left out to dry.
If I had started running or walking fast when I first had the feeling that it was about to rain, I would have gotten to the house earlier but I listened to them and when it started raining, they ran without looking back to check if I was at their pace.
Yeah, sometimes, it’s just first time jitters and you’ll be mocked but most people that’s found themselves in trouble were first timers. You might be confident that your friends will be with you every step of the way till you find yourself as an ingredient in a hot soup and those friends had somehow escaped being picked by the chef.
At this stage of my life, in as much as I want to be social and friendly to all, there are only a hand-full that I add to my personal space; I call them close friends. And among them are only one or two that know much about me. Nevertheless, no matter how much these people try to convince me to do anything, I keep my senses alert so that the first hint of danger is enough for me to back down.
A phrase as old as time that can never be over emphasized goes thus: “Know the kind of friends that you keep”. Do you know your friends?
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