The Gantt Report
One of the most popular songs by legendary reggae superstars Toots Hibbert and The Maytals is a tune called “True Love Is Hard To Find”.
Well, if true love is hard to find, finding true friends is even harder!
Most of us have been hurt by someone we love. Some of us have been killed, both literally and physically, by so-called friends.
If you live long enough, someone you consider to be one of your best friends could easily turn into one of your worst enemies!
Don’t take my word for it. Watch Maury Povich, Bill Cunningham or one of the other afternoon TV shows about relationships and before the show is over someone has cheated and slept with the spouse or significant other of one of their very best friends.
Why do your friends tell on you, turn on you, flip on you, snitch on you and lie on you? They do it because only your close friends can get close to you.
The wives of many of my married male friends really don’t like me for bad and good reasons. They don’t like me because my friends lie to their spouses and say they are at my house when they are really with their jump offs, side pieces and mistresses. Or, they don’t like me because I won’t tell what I know or what I see because I don’t get involved with my friends marriages or relationships.
One of my friend’s wives yelled at me one day and said, “My husband is your best friend. Tell me what’s going on. You know what he is doing!”
Yes, I had an idea but I didn’t ask my friend for details, I didn’t want to know any details. I wasn’t there and I couldn’t share any details whatsoever.
Instead of telling his wife to leave me alone my friend sat there as quiet as a church mouse and didn’t say a word.
You tell me, who, other than friends, or relatives, will borrow money and never even try to pay you back? Who borrows your car that’s full of gas and brings the car back with an empty tank? Who borrows your tools, your clothes, your books, and other things time after time after time?
If you have a discrimination suit, an employment suit or some other legal proceeding do you think all of your friends will have your back? Will they volunteer to testify on your behalf?
In many cases, I think not! In fact, I’ve had so-called best friends testify against me in a court of law even when they knew I was right or innocent.
And what excuses do they give to refuse to help the person that has always helped them? They say I can’t get off of work to help you but I can get off to go see a college football game or I can get off to chase a little cat or I can get off to sober up from a drunken binge!
No, everyone you know is not your friend. All of your fraternity brothers, Masonic brothers and sorority sisters are not your friends. All members of your church congregation are not your friends. All of your neighbors are not your friends!
A true friend will love you. A true friend will respect you. A true friend will patronize your business. A true friend will recommend you. A true friend will endorse you. A true friend will be your friend for life!
No sex partner of mine can turn me against my friend. No employer can turn me against my friend. No law enforcement officer can turn me against my friend. Neither of my children can turn me against my friend.
If they were still alive, not even my parents could pick my friends or turn me against my friends.
The best friends in the history of the world were supposed to have been Jesus’ Disciples. I don’t have to remind you what they did in the last days of The Lord but if you don’t agree with or believe one thing I’ve written in this column believe this:
Every Jesus has his Judas!
If you don’t know who your true friends are I hope you can ask somebody!
