An ideal friend

    For as long as I could remember, I had been searching for an ideal friend. But I have never really found the person who fitted my exacting requirements. There was always some flaw, too tall, too short, too outgoing, too shy, too insecure, too independent... As the years passed and the opportunities grew fewer, I had a mental image of the ideal friend as a plain jug containing a delightful mix of good companionship and intellectual stimulation, the shape, age and size of which no longer had any importance for me. I still felt that if I only turned this corner instead of that or boarded this bus rather than that one, I would find the ideal friend waiting for me and that we would reconize each other at once after the exchange of a few words. Ah, and a further complication was that I did not want anyone to think that I was pursuing them. It was therefore necessary to encounter the ideal friend face-to-face, which is not easy if you happen both to be moving in the same direction.