Monday, June 28, 2004

Maintaining Friendships

I am still thinking about a conversation I had this evening with my friend Tony about friendships. We talked about phases that our friendships go through over the years, how they develop, and how they are maintained.
Always curious as to how people perceive me, it was interesting to learn that I am considered rather low-maintenance, dubbed a "spontaneous" friend, ie. no planning. I am the one that will say "yes" to the phone call that asks, "Hey what are you doing now? Can you (go out for breakfast, help me with..., meet us at..., stop over?)"
Now, I understand that in the context of this conversation, spontaneity and low-maintenance were being used as compliments, but I couldn't help but wonder at the implications of that perception.
Where do the lines between low-maintenance and no-maintenance blurr and a person becomes taken for granted?
Do high-maintenance people have different types of relationships, since people have to work harder to accommodate them?
Can my spontaneity ever work against me?
This is definitely worth more thought.

1 comment:

George Nemeth said...

My personal opinion is that you won't suffer if you're around other "spontaneous" people who are conscious and consistant in being "spontaneous" with you. The people who will end up taking you for granted will be the ones who are never spontaneous...