Thursday, June 08, 2006
What kind of friend do you want to be?
“Who’s in that series? Is it Josh Harnett? Because Josh Harnett is so indescribably hot that I might cream just saying his name.”
Jane wants to know before she has even taken her seat on the Long Island Rail Road. Carpe holds her hands up from US magazine like she has just received a $60 manicure. But actually it was only an $18 manicure. Because this is New York and you can get this stuff cheap. And who has time to soak?
Jane wants to know before she has even taken her seat on the Long Island Rail Road. Carpe holds her hands up from US magazine like she has just received a $60 manicure. But actually it was only an $18 manicure. Because this is New York and you can get this stuff cheap. And who has time to soak?
She was running late anyways and had to travel cross town from a modeling shoot to meet them all at the train station. Yes, Carpe is a ubiquitous New York model. She pays her rent having her photo taken. It amazes the other girls. And what it does to the men is disappointing. Especially the men in the Hamptons. Where being a modelizer is accepted, and even expected.
Carpe can't be bothered with Jane's sarcasm tonight.
“Please don’t. I don’t want to have to go into the train restroom to clean up. It’s nasty in there. It doesn’t flush and the same guy has been in there with a 40 ouncer of Fosters since Jamaica. Does anyone have hand sanitizer?”
Without looking up from In Touch, Amelie reaches a hand into her sleek leather tote and removes a pocket sized hand sanitizer. She hands it over to Carpe and flips another page. Amelie is the vision of a J.Crew tonight. She even wore a ribbon belt.
Mex and Jane are on their knees, hanging over the back of their train seats peering down at Amelie and Carpe.
“I don’t understand the American cinema. It seems like it is always the same movie being remade. Superman, Spider Man, Dukes of Hazzard. They are all the same thing. And the way Americans dwell on the unusual. I saw 'All About My Mother’, it was a brilliant film about many things. But mostly relationships. And then I saw the American version, ‘TransAmerica’ and they made the entire film be about the transgender lead. They ruined it. ”
Carpe looks up from her magazine.
“Oh I loved TransAmerica. It was so good. I think it is my new favorite movie.”
Jane looks sideways at Mex.
“Did you actually see Dukes of Hazzard?”
“My boyfriend rented it on DVD. I fell asleep.”
Mex has only been in New York for a little over a year. She still has a small accent, a distinct staccato to her sentences that make every phrase sound like a proclamation. Mex has tiny features, little hands but long fingers. She uses them to smooth her long raven hair that frames her smooth olive complexion and deep brown eyes. Mex is oblivious to her beauty and doesn't sit up straighter or even seem to notice, all the men staring as they pass our seats.
Amelie sighs, throws the magazine aside and looks out the window. Jane catches her reflection in the window and leans over the top of her seat to be a little closer.
“You okay?”
“I’m fine.”
“You’ve been weird since we left the train station.”
“I’m fine.”
“Fine like ‘leave me alone and stop asking’ or fine like ‘Nothing's wrong, I’m fine’?”
“I’m fine.”
Jane turns around in her seat and rolls her eyes at Mex as if to say, yeah right, you’re not fooling anyone. She pulls out a pen and a journal just as Carpe pipes up from the back seat.
“What are you working on?”
“I’m writing.I’m making a list. An ideal friend list.”
Carpe breaks into a grin and catches the eyes of the other girls.
“You mean like a list of your ideal girlfriend?”
“No, not a list about you. This list is about me. Like a list of the kind of friend I want to be. My sponsor wants me to reflect on my previous friendships, look back over some of my past mistakes, and make a list of what kind of friend I want to be going forward.”
Amelie and Mex stop what they are doing and perk up in their seats.
“So I thought back over the kind of friend I had been and I saw things I didn’t like.”
“Like sleeping with your friends boyfriend?” Carpe offers.
“Like dogging out your girls for a date?” Amelie suggests.
“Like sending a text message to break off plans?” Mex says with a wink.
Jane thinks for a moment. “I Friendstered a friends crush. When I figured out what I had done, I told her I would never write him again. But I did. And I went out with him. And I told him the whole story. ”
That example silenced them.
“So first on my list is honesty, or honoring my friends.”
“Ooh, ooh… can I play?”
The kind of friend I want to be:
- Is willing to take action, put plans into motion, show up and make an effort to be in her friends lives.
- Doesn't gossip or talk about a friend with other friends.
- Is loyal. And is reliable. Sticks by a friend no matter what happens. You can count on them (Carpe).
- Is willing to talk about deeper issues and go beneath the surface (Mex).
- Is accepting of her friends. Builds her friends up, doesn’t point out all the ways they could be better.
- Let’s her friends share the spotlight (Jane).
- Demonstrates maturity. Doesn’t hide from the phone, avoid or behave like a ten year old when she doesn’t get her way.
- Knows when to push ones self into her friends life. Is assertive about bringing her friends out, even when the friend says, "I'm fine" (Amelie).
Labels: Pop Culture Casualty, Sober
