WEBVTT - Friends don't always come in pairs

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of iHeartRadio. Good Morning,

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<v Speaker 1>This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast. Today's

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<v Speaker 1>tip is that friends don't always come in pairs. Don't

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<v Speaker 1>assume that if you are getting together with friends, you

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<v Speaker 1>have to have all couples, or that you need to

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<v Speaker 1>gather separately with friends who are unattached. You can get

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<v Speaker 1>together with solo friends and couple friends at the same time.

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<v Speaker 1>On a recent episode of my other podcast, Best of

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<v Speaker 1>Both Worlds, Sarah Hartunger and I tackled a question from

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<v Speaker 1>a listener whose couple friends were getting a divorce. She

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<v Speaker 1>was wondering how to maintain a relationship with them. It

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<v Speaker 1>can be hard if you and your partner have both

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<v Speaker 1>been used to getting together with another couple and then

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<v Speaker 1>the other couple splits up. Obviously, the four of you

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<v Speaker 1>won't be going on double dates anymore, but what are

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<v Speaker 1>your options for staying in touch? The question got me

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<v Speaker 1>thinking about how friends don't always come in pairs. Whether

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<v Speaker 1>you are partnered or single, you probably have some friends

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<v Speaker 1>who are single and some who are partnered. Some of

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<v Speaker 1>your friend's partners may be people you're just not that

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<v Speaker 1>close to or don't share much in common with, or

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<v Speaker 1>just have schedules or interests that make it unlikely you

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<v Speaker 1>will socialize. But this doesn't have to be a problem.

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<v Speaker 1>For a great many activities, you can just invite a mix.

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<v Speaker 1>You could go to a concert, for instance, with your

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<v Speaker 1>husband and your childhood best friend and your husband's good

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<v Speaker 1>friend from work, along with your neighbor who just moved

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<v Speaker 1>into town. If you are single in hosting a dinner party,

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<v Speaker 1>you could invite your three college roommates and their partners.

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<v Speaker 1>But maybe one of the partners is out of town,

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<v Speaker 1>so you end up with yourself, your three college roommates,

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<v Speaker 1>and two of their spouses. The combinations are endless. The

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<v Speaker 1>main point is to not assume that the configurations of

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<v Speaker 1>everybody you get together with need to be the same. Now, obviously,

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<v Speaker 1>some activities like bridge or tennis or ballroom dancing require

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<v Speaker 1>even numbers, but most activities don't, And even if you

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<v Speaker 1>do need an even number, that doesn't mean everybody needs

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<v Speaker 1>to come as a pair. Two plus two plus two

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<v Speaker 1>equals six, but so does two plus one plus one

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<v Speaker 1>plus two. If one pair of folks in your bridge

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<v Speaker 1>group splits up, maybe the party who is more into

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<v Speaker 1>it keeps coming and you bring in a new bridge enthusiast,

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<v Speaker 1>so you still have got the right number. Now, there

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<v Speaker 1>may be a whole separate, thorny issue of which part

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<v Speaker 1>of a splitting couple gets custody, as it were, of

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<v Speaker 1>which friend groups. But if you, as a couple are

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<v Speaker 1>truly good friends with both parties who are splitting, you

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<v Speaker 1>can get together with each of them as a group

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<v Speaker 1>of three, or add in some others to be a

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<v Speaker 1>group of five or six or whatever. Friends are friends

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<v Speaker 1>and they don't always come in pairs. In the meantime,

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<v Speaker 1>this is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making

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<v Speaker 1>the most of our time. Thanks for listening to Before Breakfast.

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<v Speaker 1>If you've got questions, ideas, or feedback, you can reach

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<v Speaker 1>me at Laura at Laura vandercam dot com. Before Breakfast

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<v Speaker 1>is a production of iHeartMedia. For more podcasts from iHeartMedia,

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<v Speaker 1>listen to your favorite shows. M