The Switch

I was walking around the university today and I ran into an old friend. His name is Chris Exner, and he used to be a really nice kid and seems as though he still is. We talked for a bit and then parted ways not with a fake "I will call you sometime" or "We should hang out sometime" but a simple "Great seeing you and maybe we'll run into each other again". As I walked away from Chris I realized something, he was the one that caused me to flip The Switch. It is because of him that I decided that I should try and be friends with everyone possible, that being nice to those you hardly know isn't that hard, that to become friends with someone it only takes 1 nice gesutre etc. We were 10 years old, we had played on the same soccer team for 2 years now yet I wouldn't have counted him as anything but a sport friend (teammate...this is before you go on a bunch of road trips with a team and you all have to become good friends being that you live together for a whole season). One day we were leaving practice and Chris came up to me and asked if I would come to his birthday party on saturday, he explained we were going to fuddruckers for food and then to ruckers for video games, as he continued to explain this would be the 4th birthday in a row he has done this and every year he is only allowed to invite 4 friends...I couldn't help thinking "I am one of the 4 you are choosing. I wasn't even sure we were friends. Why would he bring me, he has better friends on the team than me thus he must have even better friends from school."...so I said yes. Went to his birthday party and saw the way he treated everyone one of us as if we were his best friend. It was at this exact point I can trace to where I decided I would try and become friends with everyone, I would treat everyone as if they were my best friend for years (thus why I sometimes will treat someone I just met like we have known each other for longer). I flipped that switch from what I consider a nice kid with some good friends to a nice kid with alot of good friends (whether they liked me back or not I will call them a friend cause I knew no better!) So as I sit here and Type i just want to say Thank You Chris Exner and hopefully we will run into each other again sometime!