Last week I heard a great interview with a woman who experimented with all sorts of ways to make friends.  
     She left notes for waitresses that she enjoyed. 

     She invited people in her college classes out for drinks before their next class.

     She even utilized a "rent a friend" service that is some sort of mash up between     computer dating and car rental.

After the interview, the show's host riffed on the whole idea of renting a friend like you rent a car.   He wondered if you would have an opportunity to walk around the person to inspect for dings and dents before accepting the rental.
I wondered if he was the sort of guy who is always trying to negotiate the upgrade to a better model.

He got some great laughs, but I'm glad my friends don't view me that way.

Let's be real.  Relationships are hard.  The best ones sometimes leave us a little bruised even.  But if we are seeking a friendship with someone who is free of scratched paint, we're going to have a lot of looking to do.
Friendship is an honest place - where we can reveal the tender spots in our souls and trust the other to hold them gently.
You don't get there quickly, and you won't always know after an initial test drive if this is a relationship that will go the distance.

If you spin me around, it won't be long before you see the places where the paint is thin and I've been knocked by a shopping cart along the way.
But there are some great stories that go with the dents, and you won't learn those in the parking lot.  It takes time to make a friend.
It's the unfolding of those stories - slowly and over time - in which frienships take root.  
And once someone has gifted you with stories that go with the dents, it's pretty hard to walk away - even for a convertible.

I hope the girl in the interview found even one friend as amazing as the friends I have.
And I hope the interviewer goes easy on that next rental car.