Friends = Money

 

As I was surfing the internet I came across an article published by BBC News in 2009. The article claims that the more friends that a person has, the more money he or she will more likely ean in their lifetime. 

Here is the article so you can take a look at it yourself ---->  http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7920434.stm

I have a lot to say about the article, mainly that it was very well written. I actually enjoyed reading it.It contained very interesting quotes Despite not agreeing with the content, it is always nice to read another journalist's work.

As for the content, although well put together, I simply do not agree with it. How can money and friends even be in the same topic of discussion. I feel that the two should always be separated. I also feel that the two have nothing to do with each other, regardless of the study that was discussed in the article.

I'm sure that everyone can remember a person in high school that was teased and some-what bullied, due to their nerdy presence. Maybe that person had an undeniable love for computers or engineering and just did not make a lot of friends. Typically, and I am speaking from my own experience, but typically, that person was always socially awkward and unpleasant to be around. However, as time progressed, that person always earned the best grades and from my experience, all of the teachers loved him, meanwhile the popular kids, although had many friends and were also liked by teachers and other members of the faculty, did not match the intellectual mountains that the nerd or socially awkward kid could mentally move during test time.

I know, and remember someone like that. He went on to graduate from and Ivy league institution and now works for Facebook. He did not have many friends, if any from what I can recall, but he found peace within himself and his imagination and now makes more money than what I will possibly never see, while still in my twenties.

It's people like him that remind me that money isn't everything and it becomes a problem when how much a person earns becomes associated with their amount of friends. In my opinion friendships are sacred, not measurements of income. I'm sure that their are people without a lot of money with a lot of friends and possibly more happier than those with lots of money and friends.

Please don't get me wrong. I am not trying to discredit the article published my BBC, my amateur credentials could never go toe-to-toe with a BBC reporter. At least not now. I am simply saying that money and friends should never be made parallel. 

Money is a tool that should be used to acquire things necessary for sustaining life in a particular culture (not all cultures have a monetary system and they are happy). Friends ARE necessary for life's moments of pleasure and sorrow.