Mike

During second and third year university, I lived in a house with Mike (along with some other folk, with whom I did not get along). I had actually known Mike from the heydays of elementary school; we had been chums back then but went through a long period of non-communication until we discovered that we attended the same university. At any rate, despite the many crappy days I spent in second and third year, basking in the wake of what I now think was existential depression, I always looked forward to having a good meal with Mike. He and I usually had a good conversation at the dinner table, sandwiched between an efficient cooking/cleaning up system, and for many days, this was the only form of real social interaction I had with anyone. Looking back now, I am quite grateful for having these meals to look forward to. Goodness knows how unhappy I would have been without them.

While we're on the topic, I may as well mention that Mike is probably one of the best housemates anyone could ask for. Anyone who has lived with their friends in university will understand what I mean when I say that there's a difference between a good friend and a good housemate. Mike was a good friend, to be sure, but he was a tremendous housemate. He always did his share of the chores, never complained, paid his bills, was clean and for the most part, not loud. If I had to pick someone to live with based on co-habitation-compatibility alone, Mike would be the first person to come to mind.

In most aspects, Mike is a very different person than I. He's an engineer (that probably tells you enough), and from what he tells me, doesn't understand anything about women. That never seemed to get in the way of him having girlfriends so I assume there was some sort of redeeming quality to him as a boyfriend. One of these things was likely the fact that Mike is a fundamentally good person who is very considerate of other people's feelings. By his own admission, he doesn't understand them very often but he's considerate of them nonetheless. That takes a certain quality, you know, to be considerate of feelings you don't understand.

Mike is also extremely handy. He knows stuff about cars, computers, construction - anything you can take apart and put back together, Mike probably has a working knowledge of it. In other words, he's good at fixing things and it's not until things start to break that you appreciate just how nice it is to have someone around who can help you with whatever it is that's malfunctioning.

Personally, one of the things I love about Mike is that he's perfectly happy sitting on a back porch on a summer evening, drinking beer. I've never been the type of person who has to DO something when I'm with other people. I mean, it's nice to do stuff with your friends, don't get me wrong, but I've encountered many situations where I'm sitting with friends and relaxing when someone pipes up, "So... what do you guys wanna do?" In my head, my answer is usually, "Nothing! I just want to sit here and have random conversations!" but I can never bring myself to say this. It's pretty nice to know someone like Mike, with whom you don't have to plan on "doing" very much.

Also on a personal note, I like the fact that Mike loves being in a relationship but doesn't understand women. It's not a sadistic thing - I just think it's funny when he talks about things that his girlfriend - or a girl he likes - says or does and ponders about what it could possibly mean. In a way, though, I think Mike understands women better than he says he does, especially considering how much time and effort he puts into trying to say the right thing to them. Again, it's this sort of old-timey desire to "do right" by people that I think I like the most about Mike. He's a good guy - a good friend and a good housemate - but ultimately, a good guy.