Man. People talk about some mundane shit. For fucks sake, don't you get bored talking about the same subject like "How they pronounce the word, 'basket' in Leeds" all the fucking time? You know who you are and virtually everyone reading this knows who you are because the experience of this topic has been replicated with them too, although the word may have been changed to advantage, arsehole or garage. Nobody cares.
Not only have we had the same conversation 3 times (I was bored midway through the first time but was a little too polite to say - maybe if I did I wouldn't have had to suffer it again. Twice.), but you've had the same conversation with EVERYONE! The life of an accountant is embodied in you my boy.
When I choose my friends I have to choose carefully. Growing up with no money on a council estate makes you realise that you just can't afford to waste any investment, be it in time, money or energy and it makes you love what you have and disregard what you don't. I'm still poor, I'm still fighting and I believe I've made some wonderful choices and invested time wisely but you still make me wonder. My investment is normally rewarded with great returns but with you something is missing.
I keep an open mind, and my friends come from all walks of life, all backgrounds and classes as life can only be experienced in full colour if you don't look through a filter. Those I call friends I am Down For Life with, and I have high demands in return, but I'm not really hard to repay for my investment.
However, this is a concept that seems to be lost as personal wealth increases and depending on your standing in society. Some people, like Slit can keep it real, but it seems that in general, the richer you are the more important it becomes to hold on to your money over your friends and you become unable to forge the depths of friendship attained by the less well off. It becomes more difficult for you to comprehend the bond between 2 people, whose investment of time together on a more than superficial level has given them a seemingly psychic bond, because you are blinded by your desire for material accumulation and the investment of wealth.
You find it difficult to trust and I find it difficult to trust you because I can feel what you think.
Yes I am poor and I know you didn't ever expect to have a poor friend. Although you accept me now, it's because I am superbly adaptable and can fit seamlessly into your world but you could never hope to understand mine. Your regular friends own boats and their daddy's have houses in the south of France but, despite being so rich, you all keep tabs on who bought the last round. Tarik you owe me nothing, you never owe me anything. Put your wallet away, I'm not interested. Next round is mine.
Your mind is not able to take in that there is a whole world outside your box, a world of poverty and suffering. And that, by your sheer complacency, the fact that you walk around with your eyes closed, and by your every action you are actually part of the problem.
I have tried to stick up for you in the past because I defend my friends but everything they say is true. I've fought your corner because I've seen you grow up before my eyes and you've never been strong enough to fight that corner yourself. But you still have a lot of growing up to do.
Maturity is not about leading the rich race or fulfilling ambitions. Those things come through hard work and perseverance anyway and even the immature can do these things. It's not about the step into paying the bills yourself (which you haven't yet graduated to anyway) although that is a little closer.
Maturity is when you realise that you have responsibilities and move to take action to fulfil your duty, not just to yourself but also to others. You do not exist in this world alone and denial of the existence of the rest of the world and your responsibilities won't make them go away.
One strange thing about life is that the more you take the less you have but the more you give the more you get. You will not understand this at the moment though - you are too immature. You will always be immature until the day that you understand this and when you learn to let go. Then the world will be yours.
If you're reading this, ring me when I get back on 29th December because I want to see you. I stand by you because you're a good boy at heart, although not many people see it. One day you'll be a Man. Please don't keep letting your wealth close doors instead of opening them.
