Who is your emergency contact? This question on a form is maybe the most direct way of driving you to ask your friend to promise they will be there in the future. Why doesn’t anyone ever define their friendships, the way a relationship is established? It’s rare, but my best friend and I did when she was over one night; shiny-eyed from drink, she asked me, “will you be my Maid Of Honour?” She wasn’t engaged — she still isn’t engaged even though she’s been dating the same person for five years — it didn’t matter, I accepted, and our friendship was redefined as each other’s Maid Of Honour (MOH).
Accidental texting also exposes the mutual acuteness of a relationship. At the dentist last Wednesday, I was filling out my health form for the new doctor I was trusting with my most exposed skeletal system: Who is your emergency contact? I was haste to finish the pre-appointment information and meant to message my friend Sally and S… Sean was the one I messaged instead. It was an unintentional and indirect question, now up to him to define our relationship before I meant to ask him, are we friends? A similar case one night years ago happened when I texted my mum instead of my then boyfriend, “I just farted and I feel sooo much better! Love you! Have a good sleep!” My mum texted back, “Good! Love you too!”