I was talking to a friend the other day & we got on the subject of the different levels of friendship. I like to think of my friendships like a business (JCorp) with me as Owner, President, CEO, CFO, C3PO, whatever other acronym you wanna throw in there that means I’m in charge of everything, haha! As the person in charge of this friendship business, I decide whom to hire and fire at will. Upon being hired into JCorp, people are either promoted or demoted as I see fit. Not everyone in my life is privy to the same information. This amount of information to which they are privy equals the level to which a person is ascribed. For me, the levels are as follows:
*Entry-level – These are simply folks with whom I’ve had some sort of contact. We speak in passing, but hold no indepth convos beyond pleasantries. Some coworkers and classmates fit into this category.
*Mid-level – A slight step above the previous group. We exchange more than just pleasantries, but do not hang out like that.
*Senior Level – We talk on a semi-regular basis. Hang out sometimes. Usually by extension of another friend.
*Middle Management – We talk on a regular basis. They know some details of my personal life. We hang out more frequently than Senior Level. My family knows of them.
*Upper Management – We talk weekly (at the least). They know the ins and outs and goingsons of my life. We get together on a regular basis & chill. I have their back & they know I have theirs. My family considers them family. Commonly referred to as my sistas.
*Board of Trustees – AK47. If you ain’t them, you don’t even know what that means.
The levels are not based on the length of time that I have known any person. Hell there are some people in Upper Management whom I’ve known less than some people who are still at an Entry-Level position. The difference between these folks is that they have proven to be trustworthy & dependable. We click, mesh, etc.
The conversation that sparked this blog was about a person I know is jealous of another friend’s relationship with a mutual friend. She does not understand that with every person there are tiers of friendship. Perhaps she should be content with the level of frienship in which she is now quaintly ensconced and roll with it. Don’t worry about whether or not she knows all the intricate details of her friend’s life. Just like with any job, if she works at this friendship & shows her ability to be a real friend, she might get promoted. Until she proves worthy of promotion, however, I’m sure she will remain at the Mid-Level position in which she is currently.
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