I don't give a damn about my reputation Oh no..Not me.

When I was much younger, I was always fascinated about people and their opinion. I still could not form one on my own, so I tend to look for what other people think of a topic that so suddenly occurred my mind. The first person that I would go to is my dad. I looked up to him so much that I don't think he'll ever get anything wrong. However, there are times when I would purposely look for other answers to see that whether other people think the way my ever-so-brilliant father did. Of course, I would look for sources that I deemed reliable that come from some respectable intelligent people. Strangely enough, almost always, these people, who are not related in any way, either with my father or even with each other, would express similar answers.

This puzzles me every time.

How the hell do these people manage have the same opinion on this matter? My friends and I don't share the same opinion. We always fight to see who's got the right answer. There is no way that everyone can get the same right answer. It doesn't make sense. How did these smart people suddenly decide that they agree with this view when there are few different options? Are these people in a secret society that discusses every issue there is in this world together? Do they go to a meeting and discuss this matter and reach a conclusion? When is the meeting held? Or does the whole world subscribe to one same magazine that provides all these opinions? Who controls this magazine? Who decides that this particular answer is the only one that should be accepted for that particular question? Who comes out with all these questions to be answered because it seems like all the things that bother me has been answered because everyone that I ask all these questions to has the answer and all the answers are always, ALWAYS the same. How? HOW??

As you can see, this thought always drove me crazy and I always wondered about this every time I have a question answered. And that happened a lot.

As I grew older, obviously, I started figuring out why people have the same opinion. It is a mixture of discovery both through experience and researches and also some common sense. Those people that I got the answers from, the ones who usually share similar opinions, have one thing in common: they are intelligent people. I later on found out that opinions are formed based on what kind of person you are. I discovered different opinions and views later on in life when I mixed with different people. So same kind of people share similar values and opinions on many different matters.

So, with that long ass writing that I've got up there (which is only to point out something apparently very obvious,nothing new, unintriguing, boring, straight up no-shit-Sherlock material), one might wonder where am I going with this.

Well, actually, last two years (Reader(yeah singular without 's' cause most probably there'll only be one person who'll get to this point of this post): Oh come on not another story! Get to the fucking point already! Me: Okay I promise this is the last one, seriously, just bear with me okay?) , I had a fight with someone whom I'm very close with. I claimed that you can tell what kind of a person someone is by looking who that person surrounds herself or himself with. In other words, our friends reflect who we are. She disagreed with me and insisted that that claim is misguided and is made without basis. I'm not sure why, but that was the first time that I witnessed her really standing her ground and fought me. Although I was very stubbornly insisting upon my opinion at that time, I was later on in doubt if it was as true as I thought it would be. I reflected on myself and the people around me. I looked at how friendship is formed and how it is broken.

Fast forward three years later to where I am now, I still truly believe what I said was true. Friends, especially close friends, stay friends with each other not only because they can tolerate each other, but mainly because they act in a certain similar way, have similar opinions where it matters and most importantly, share the same value. What happens when they no longer share the same value or have similar opinions? The friendship breaks and they grow apart. Even different religious beliefs somehow have similar opinion on this matter. In an authentic hadith, The Prophet Muhammad s.a.w. has said that a person is likely to folloe the faith of his friend, so look whom you befriend". Meanwhile, in the Bible, it is stated that "He who walks with the wise grows wise, but a companion of fools suffers harm. (Proverbs 13:20). The gist is very simple: who you are or will become is determined by who you are friends with.

Maybe some of us know some horrible people that we are apparently close with but do not want to identify ourselves with, but we should try to look closely. There's a strong reason why we are friends with that person, and it's not toleration because toleration alone is not enough to bond two friends together.

As for me, I am happy enough with the people that I surround myself with. Whenever I look at the friends that I keep in close proximity, I am glad to see the reflection. If anything, we have reached to the point of having a very creepily close friendship that might sometimes drive people away haha. But that's okay because as long as we have each other, we don't really mind about those people that we have driven away.

Anywaaaaaaay(let's move away from cheesy disgusting mood cause we are all very tough manly people with the fear of getting in touch with our own feelings), what triggered this thought of mine is the 90's TV series (James Franco, Jason Siegel and Seth Rogen all crammed into one show ohmygodsomanyawesomepeopleletmesqueezeinbetweenthemsaywhat) Freaks and Geeks. Lindsay, who used to be a geek, suddenly befriended the freaks and that changed her whole life. If you've never heard of it or haven't watched it, do. Good stuff.


(song by Joan Jett and The Blackhearts - Bad Reputation)