I have been pondering the reason why Sally and I are still
friends after seven long weeks of almost continuous time together. I put it
down to her right knee.
Whenever we have fallen out for some reason, usually to do
with an instance of unreasonable behaviour on her part, I am faced with the
decision of whether to go into a protracted huff or not. In other situations in
our lives together I typically decide that it is perfectly warranted and this
state of effrontery would normally last for quite a while - my experience being
that huffs need to be nurtured to have full effect.
On this holiday however, when sitting in the rental car,
Sally’s right knee is just an arm length away and I have realised that just
reaching out and rubbing or patting it can break the spell and make us friends
again. Of course, it takes enormous generosity of spirit on my part to extend
my arm in this way but I have found that the effort is well worth it. Being
friends is by far the preferred state of being.
A word of warning: only try this movement when sitting in a
car or perhaps a café or restaurant. Doing it at any other time, with the
potential for embarrassing misunderstanding, can lead to even more protracted
huffs.
For the sake of balance, I should note that Sally’s tactic
is to hold my hand or slip her arm into mine. I call this cheating, especially
if I am in a huff, but it seems to pave the way for my later reaching out. So
perhaps I am not the instigator of renewed friendship after all, but then it
takes both sides.
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