Will you be my friend?

Now I’ve been pretty upfront in stating that I find Facebook to be a strange and interesting place. The entire purpose of the site is up for debate. Yes it is a useful way to stay in touch with people though I don’t understand how it is any different than e-mail in that regard. You get to show the world who you are by the things you like; defining yourself by other people’s creative endeavors. That’s not exactly the best thing in the world. Want to tell the world about yourself? Start a blog. Everything you need to understand me is on this site somewhere. And as soon as someone explains to me what the hell “poke” means I’ll be a much happier person.

But for the most part I enjoy my time on the site. It’s just that this week I had a rather strange friend request. It wasn’t from an old high school classmate (though I just had one of those) or from some vague work colleague of mine (which I have a number of). No, I received notification of the following:

“Kansas City wants to be my friend.”

As in the city itself has asked to be my friend. This is rather disturbing. I have had a hard enough time in my life making friends with real people. I typically keep few friends but those that I do have I cherish to a great degree. But I tend not to become friends with inanimate objects. Not even my laptop, which has seen more of me than anyone, is considered a friend. A trusted colleague to be sure but not a friend. Now the city itself is asking me for friendship.

It’s an interesting change of events because for much of the past five years this city has been anything but my friend. It doesn’t qualify as an enemy or a nemesis more like that dude you know who is a friend of a friend that continually gets under your nerves. He constantly says the wrong things, dresses in a manner that bugs you and never seems to buy you a round. I wasn’t welcome to this town with open arms but at least it wasn’t disdain either. We’ve mellowed with each other as the years have gone by and for some reason we are on good terms right now. So maybe I should view this as a bit of a reconciliatory gesture by the city. After all this time of fighting me it has decided to try to be friends with me.

Still, I’m trying to figure out what type of friendship would this be. Would the city help me move? Would it bail me out if I had a really bad night at the bars? Could the city be my wingman on a Saturday night going “Of every person in the city, this guy is the best of the bunch. Trust me, I know”. Will it have my back if I get in a fight in the suburbs? These are the sorts of things I need to know before I confirm my friendship.

Also, for those wondering Kansas City is interested in friendship and networking. I guess that is a good thing. I’m not sure what it would mean if the city was interested in dating. But given the whole KCK-KCMO situation I’m pretty sure it’s relationship status is “It’s complicated.”

Upbeat music for the day: A Gomez song about traveling and finding yourself. “It’s the things that are given not won are the things that you want.”