Friend of A Friend

By: Kendra Thompson

One of my favourite things about living in Dublin is meeting up with people from Toronto. Now, I know that sounds strange, but hear me out. On Thursday I got an email from my close friend S. in London saying M.: her high school ex-boyfriend's younger brother (sounds random eh?!) would be in Dublin on his own and would I meet him for a drink. A few texts later M. and I met for an after work drink at the Bailey, where we snagged a place on the jammed patio among the Dublin suits kicking off the May Day long weekend. Anyone eavesdropping as we covered all the important ground, ranging from shopping to sex to politics and back, would have thought us old friends. Strangely, for all we have in common, including  many friends, we had never even met! And we probably wouldn't have if we were both still living back in Toronto, but this kind of meeting is very common when you are overseas.

When you are in the comfort of your home crowd there is no real need to connect with people you don't already know. This all changes in a strange city where it is harder to fill your dance card; where you're out of your 'comfort zone'. Suddenly you are having a laugh, hearing the life story, swapping gossip from home. This has happened quite a bit since I got to Dublin and it's definitely one of the highlights. It makes the world seem small and makes me feel connected to home without the constraints of the social structure and it renews your confidence in making new friends regardless of how settled you may be.

As M. was heading back to the hotel (I dragged him to Topper's for a traditional Irish pint) I told him that I had a friend in London that he should meet:

" I know it's a bit strange, but I think you guys would get along. His name is SR. and you two should hook up, do what we did tonight."

"SR?! No way! He's my roomate"

Small world....love it!

Comments

[Ben]

What a great piece. It is amazing how fast your network of friends expands. I find friends who travel for business will always suggest you see their friend X when in Y. I used to shy away from such meetings, but it is always better to have company on the road and as a result I have met many great friends.