Who your friends are

You learn who your friends are when you're fired. My sister was just fired, and not only is her old company calling everyone in town and defaming her, but people -- a certain person -- at that company that she thought she could count on has turned out to be a turncoat.

Some of her closest friends have shrugged their shoulders and said, "wow, that sucks," not lifting a finger or a headset to help her. In fact, it's the people she never dreamed she could count on who are going out of their way to help her. Giving advice, making phone calls, telling her how great she is.

Too bad it often brings out a crisis to realize who cares about you. It makes me wonder how I am as a friend. Do I go out of my way? Depends on the person. Who do I consider my friends and why? And would they give the same love back to me?

Between this family crisis and the George Clooney movie "Up in the Air," I've been thinking a lot about whether I'm actually living life, or letting it pass me by while I chat on Facebook. I'm a great surface friend - good with a quip, excellent at checking in, but if I was fired, would anyone care?