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People bond with others for all sorts of reasons.
There are romantic relationships that make absolutely no sense, for all but a single through-line.
There are close friendships where people are ideologically diametrically opposed in myriad ways. And there are just as many reasons for the existence of these relationships.
Particularly when it comes to friends from our formative years. There are a few cats that are still, to me, my brothers, but we don't see eye to eye on a goddamned thing.
most of us shed most of those people naturally, just through the course of life being what it is.
But then there are the stragglers, and sometimes those bonds run thicker than whatever differences we have. I have a friend who is my brother through and through, but he gets on my fucking nerves if we spend too much time together. We're that different. Our friendship doesn't make a whole lot of sense on paper, but that changes nothing.
Then there are those relationships where people are 180 degrees apart on serious issues, and yet maintain their friendship. A lot of that, IMO, is due to a largely misplaced sense of nobility toward the notion of being friends with those with whom you disagree.
Personally, I've developed some hard demarcation lines with a lot of things, and then there's that arms length area where I love them but probably wouldn't fuck with them if we didn't have the history we have.
The optics are what they are though. We all make certain baseline assumptions, because "birds of a feather" does carry some weight. But, to view this through the lense of another well-worn cliche, appearances are often deceiving.
On the surface, you might be viewed as one with the company you keep, but perceptions can, do, and should change if/when we get greater context. To that end, why you keep the company you do is what determines whether or not you deserved to be viewed the way they are.
I've been fooled enough to know that first impressions don't mean shit, and I think the "company you keep" line of thinking is in line with that.
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