Lifesaver!

I sometimes wonder whether those enduring relationships that one has from school or college last because of the circumstances under which those friendships were forged. Regardless of whether you immediately liked someone, you were obliged to spend a huge chunk of your life with them, day in and day out. Consequently, you ended up seeing past the obvious and, perhaps, superficial aspects of a person and got to know them properly.

This thinking always reminds me of my friend Phil Mason, whom I sat next to in 'A' level physics. At the start of sixth form, I knew of Phil and who he was friends with, and I doubted we would get on. For a start, he loved seventies rock (this was in 1982) and was hugely dismissive of the electronic music that I loved. We bumped along together for a few weeks, found a few things we had in common and, after a while, I started to look forward to the lessons I had with Phil and to appreciate what a smart and funny guy he was.

I suppose the closest equivalent in adult life is work where, similarly, we don't choose whom we work with. During my contracting years I had, I think, ten different jobs and I'm still in touch with someone from most of them. For the last ten years, though, I've been in the same job and worked pretty much all of that time with a chap called Steve. Again, we were quite different when we met although we got on - had a good working relationship - from the start. Quite apart from becoming good friends over the years, we've also seen one another through a lot.

And of course, during that time, you pick up things from one another - I've come to love Queens of the Stone Age and adopted one specific piece of bad language that I use in times of stress - and also you end up with a whole menagerie of in-jokes and faux obsessions. One of ours is the price of Original Source shower gel at Asda. Today it was back down to £1 a bottle, so I took this photo on my 'phone and sent it to Steve.

Which is just as well because today is the second time in two and a half years that I've forgotten to take a photo for my blog. The first time I found a shot that I'd taken by accident and on this occasion I can fall back on this shower gel photo. It's not the first time he's helped me out of a fix, so thanks again, Steve. I owe you (another) one!