Lessons As Told By “Friends”
While Friends has been off the air for over ten years, the sitcom still holds a place in a lot of people’s hearts. For me, I wasn’t even born when the show began. I started watching it my freshman year of high school. Over the past few years, I have religiously watched the reruns on TV. If I’m watching TV, you can bet it’s an episode of Friends on my screen. They’re on a couple of different channels late at night. I have probably seen every episode at least five times. If we’re being honest, probably more than that. Each friend was so differently structured, and you are lying if you said you never classified who was who in your own friend group. So today I am going to talk about what each of the friends has taught me.
Rachel: Rachel taught me that if you wait for something, it’ll eventually happen the way you want it. Going back all the way to the pilot episode, Rachel had absolutely no idea how to be an adult. She didn’t know what she wanted to do with her life. After a couple of seasons pouring coffee for people, she landed her dream job in the fashion industry. She had a baby with the guy she was supposed to be with. It may take time, but sometimes the things that you wait for are the things that will make you happy. So when I complain about how boring my life is or how nothing goes my way, I think of Rachel. I think of the many times she fell before getting her happy ending.
Phoebe: Phoebe was always my favorite character on the show. She taught me that it’s okay to be quirky and weird. Each of us has our own quirks that make us who we are. Phoebe was never afraid to be eccentric, and that’s probably a big reason why I loved her character. Her weirdness is what made her unique. Not everyone can be confident about running around Central Park flailing their arms about. (If you’re a true Friends addict, you know what I’m talking about) Phoebe Buffay is literally my spirit animal. I think we can all benefit from being our true selves and letting our weird shine through. Because being normal is so boring!
Monica: Monica taught me that it’s okay to be a little dramatic. Sometimes there are moments in life where you need to be a drama queen. I know I have those moments. I think my friends and family can tell you I have those moments more than I would ever admit to anyone. Monica liked things a certain way, and you can’t really judge her for that. We all like things a certain way; maybe we’re not so uptight about it, but we do. And on occasion, you get very competitive and feel like everyone is trying to steal your thunder.
Ross: Ross taught me that it’s okay to be nerdy. He was the 90’s version of a fanboy. I can totally relate back to his character because I am a fangirl. I’m not too keen on using the word nerd to describe someone. For Ross, he openly geeked out. Mostly about dinosaurs and the National Geographic channel. While his friends did make fun of him, they didn’t mean it in an offensive way. My friends are constantly poking fun of my fangirl obsessions. Nonetheless, he continued to drone on about dinosaurs through all ten seasons.
Chandler: If there is one thing I learned from Chandler, it’s that it’s okay to be awkward. Without a doubt, his character was one of the most awkward characters on that show. On any show really. He knew it too, and he accepted it. Yes, occasionally he would throw himself a pity party over it, but he embraced the strong-hold of awkwardness. He was also not afraid to use sarcasm as a defense to anything. When in doubt, be sarcastic. At least that’s my motto I live by.
Joey: Joey taught me that you should never give up on your dreams or passions. His acting career was anything but stellar, but he never gave up. Ever. He was back on his feet in Joey-fashion. Most of the time things didn’t exactly turn out successful, but Joey was passionate about acting. When people told him he couldn’t do it, he did it anyway. Relating back to myself (surprise, surprise), if I had listened to people who said majoring in journalism was stupid, I would not be pursuing it in college right now. Like Joey, you get discouraged, but it’s never okay to quit.
Which friend do you relate to most? Have you and your friends ever classified who was who in your friend group?