In the dark science they sometimes call 'the art of the possible' - that's politics to you and me - there's an expression that goes: "My enemy's enemy is my friend".
I think it's a throwback to the days when we were almost permanently at war with someone, and anyone who could help us 'beat' them was seen as an ally. It led to some pretty unsavoury alliances, too.
Back in the real world, I like to think I don't have any real enemies, but I know people who do.
The thing is, if we're to take sides and choose between friends and enemies (as though there's only those two categories to choose from), we're obviously going to choose friends. But, if those friends have a habit of making enemies, how long is it before we become one of them?
Now, I know some long-standing friends who have fallen out with one or two people, but that's different. I know them for the decent people they are.
But choosing a friend on the basis that he or she is an enemy of someone we don't care to be around is like choosing a smouldering firework over a flaming one. And making friends with someone who can't wait to tell you about all the slights and insults he or she has suffered from other people is like befriending an unexploded bomb.
The same goes for clients, employees and employers, too.
I don't need people like that in my life. Do you?
Roy
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