Problem with our increasingly specialised society is most of us do not know everything for every situation we might face. Most of us do not know how to fix a drain, build a rocket and invest our money wisely. Chances are we can expertly do only one thing. Maybe two if we are luckily. If your family tree does not consist of a doctor, lawyer, construction worker, electrician, law enforcement, farmer, all the other trades out there and live in the same house or city you do, you are going to need friends when something happens.
You might just need someone to pick the kids up from school, after family, friends are your 'go to' emergency plan. Should you not have any friends (huh?), are new to an area or are just a typical suburban or urban dweller all of us need to work on making new friends.
The first people we should try to interact with are our neighbors. With them living close odds are we see them as we come and go daily. Take a moment and wave. Heck, maybe even start a conversation with them. Test the waters and get a feel for who lives around you. For most of us it does not take long to figure out if we are going to 'click' with, be polite to or avoid our neighbors. Even just a superficial relationship with your neighbors can pay off later. Maybe you need a neighbor to just keep an eye on your place while you go on vacation or a weekend trip.
Rural folks this concept is easier for. In small towns everyone seems to know everyone else. Being from a small town I have seen this in action and can see the complete lack of this now living in the 'city'. (The following suggestions still apply.)
This might be a bit harder for those of us in 'the big city'. Seems most people in these areas want almost nothing to do with their neighbors. I know our next door neighbor seems to go out of her way to avoid interaction with anyone in the neighborhood. She opens her garage door, pulls out and drives off, does the opposite when she comes home. Across the street we have one house we spend some time talking to when we both happen to be outside. Neighbors on the other side are never home and then there is the other house across the street.
Real nice when we first moved in, offered to help with trimming a tree and our kids would play together. Then the husband lost it one day, took a baseball bat to their mailbox and threatened to kill the fella who was staying with them. They quickly went to the 'be polite' to list. Aside from our immediate neighbors we have some good friends who live within a mile or two of the house we can call if we needed to.
Church, sports teams and clubs are excellent places to grow your pool of people who you know. Spending some time building even shallow relationships with people can pay off when you need the name of a good plumber or you are in need of recommendations for a doctor. These interactions even give you a buffer for weeding out and cataloguing which group you put people in.
Spend some time talking to the cashier at the grocery store or the barista at starbucks. Strike up a conversation which is a little more in depth than what you normally do with folks at establishments you go to often. We have made friends with a waitress at our favorite restaurant. She gives us a discount and goes out of her way for us when we come in. We exchange information on where the bargains can be found and upcoming events in the local area.
Prior to the alien invasion is when you want to make friends and sort out who you can count on. Because if you think you can go it alone during the invasion, or on a daily basis, you are wrong. The relationships you build before something happens are the ones you will need and count on in the future if you have a bad day. Because of this try to have friends and acquaintances from diverse backgrounds and skill sets. this gives you a depth of knowledge to pull from. This could be the difference between a minor issue and a full blown emergency! As always;
Stay safe!!
