Andrew Lafrance

Friends are great. They let you tell them anything, will hang out with you when you have nothing else to do, and usually make you laugh if you let them. I like to think (in a very un-haughty sort of way) that I have a decent amount of good friends and I am thankful that I can rely on such a dependable group of people.

Friends from high school are still some of my best friends three years later, and I have met many new and wonderful people upon arriving at SDSU. I like that I have a variety of people in my life, because if I always had to talk to myself in the mirror I would get very bored. I only have to do that on Friday nights now!

I think my friends are the reason that I like the television show “Friends” so much. Phoebe, Chandler, Monica, Joey, Rachel and Ross are very satisfying characters that I have found to be similar to my friends, even if they are fake. The show was on the air for 10 years, which is a testimony for its quality and lasting effect on viewers. The characters may not have been realistic, but parts of them were, and that’s what I love about “Friends.”

I feel like I enjoy these six characters because they remind me of my life and the strange things my friends and I do. Phoebe is always oblivious and earth-conscious and does wonderful things like pretending to be a pigeon and keeping rats in her kitchen. I am a rather strange individual as well, though I do not think my friends find me as amusing as Phoebe’s friends find her.

I always attempt to talk like Chandler and make things dramatic and obvious like he does, and most certainly I fail, but at least I make amusement for myself. Monica is very neurotic and likes to yell “I know!” a lot, which causes me to imitate her even while viewing the show alone.

Joey is silly and delightful, and it is because of him that I enjoy trying to hit on people around campus (emphasis on try). Plus, my roommate looks almost exactly like him! How nice. Rachel is just so darn cheerful that I want her to be my sister, and I would take her any day to be my waitress even if she is terrible at her first job. And even though Ross is my least favorite “Friend,” he still makes me laugh with his over-pronunciation of words and expressive face.

“Friends” makes me wish that I lived in New York City, had a coffee shop in the basement of my building, had perfect comedic timing, and was awesome enough to get into all sorts of wacky predicaments. Sometimes, I also wish that I had a group of friends that hung out all day everyday, instead of having to go to work and class and such obligatory things like that.

Alas! But still, life goes on and my friends are great. It is reassuring to know that they are always there for me, rain or shine, or even if there is one of those oft-occurring South Dakotan blizzards! Or not, but I greatly enjoy that NBC made a show about these charming six individuals and how their lives revolved around each other. I would always choose my friends over these idealized and fictitious ones, because even though the “Friends” are fun to watch and to laugh with (and at), the people that surround me are even better suited to be my friends. They know me and yet still love me and that is what friends are for, thank goodness!