Susan and Veronica

I once had a coworker named Susan and Veronica. They were not really friends at work but they were not enemies either. They just did not get the opportunity to know each other and bond as friends. And I can say the same for Veronica and me. Susan and I remained at work while Veronica moved to LA. Veronica and I kept in touch and I would see her whenever I was in LA. 6 years after Veronica's departure, Susan and I, along with other coworkers, decided to go to LA for a conference. When I suggested to Susan that we should meet up with Veronica, she gave me an exasperated sigh laced with disinterest. My impression was that she felt it was a waste of her time. Upon my encouragement that Veronica is kool and it would be fun, she went along with my suggestion. That reunion of Susan and Veronica led to a discovery that they really both have the same interest and expertise in practice. They started to keep in touch more and became really good friends.

This situation sometimes made me think about how we make friends and how we sometimes prejudge somebody without really knowing them. In my story above, Susan obviously prejudged Veronica as somebody she would not be friends with but she later changed her tune. While I on the other hand, had no preconceived idea on Veronica and just took her as she is. That led me to meet her every time I was in LA and got to know her as somebody kool. I will not say that I am always as open minded about people but I like to think that I should behave more like how I behaved with Veronica. This situation also made me think how user friendly Susan behaved. She seems only open to the idea of friendship if she has something in common with another. And that is not how I like to behave. That is limiting and friendship is something too good to limit ourselves.