I almost wrote spend time with friends. However, not all your friends get you. Not all of them will make 5 hours disappear while just chatting away.
Some friends can do this and some won’t. Sometimes it depends on the topic and sometimes it depends on the situation. Although some friends can just riff forever and you’ll have a fun and enjoyable time together.
Make particular note of these friends so you have a shortlist for when you can or want to riff.
Equality sounds good. However, does equality mean treat people the same? Possibly, but maybe not. Try to treat people appropriately rather than the same. And yes there is some nuance in there but if you thought about it, you already know what I mean.
I like the idea of appropriateness. It allows for some differences in situation. For example, I don’t treat my young children exactly the same as I do my wife. Conversation topics are a little different, expectations are a little different and the comfort around their independence is not identical.
Another thought is, if we treated everyone equally, or the same, in the toilet category, women would have urinals. Or switching it the other way, men’s rooms might have (unnecessary for them) sanitary items available. It seems more appropriate that these differences exist. Making them the same would be a stretch on resources, and they would very rarely get used.
One question I know you’re thinking about is, “who decides what appropriate means?” For what era are we defining it? And once defined for the current world, know that things will shift in a year or five too.
Perhaps we really already know what appropriate would look like. Or at least we would know our current best idea of appropriate. Many people would be happy with that and it might make them aware, or at least curious about, other best practices.
Treat people appropriately.
