I remember back in primary school, I used to sit next to this guy, we’ll call him Jimothy Belvedere.
We had been in the same year for a couple of years but never got to talking before being placed together in that class.
What I found interesting was that he opened a whole new category for me.
He didn’t have any qualities that I admired or wanted to emulate like Cool Guy Jonny or Terrific at Rugby Tim.
At the same time he didn’t possess traits that were extremely off-putting like Bully Brad or Racist Rick.
Furthermore, there was no spark between us. Our senses of humour did not align. We could make polite conversation but it never developed into joking around.
He was just another person.
Today when I look back I probably should’ve felt sadder when we parted ways because we ended up sitting next to each other for 3 years but as a kid I didn’t question it.
I was focused on more fun things!
When I saw him the other day I didn’t feel like approaching or avoiding, I just felt acknowledgement.
Thomas Duggan 