Every Thursday Night

[JWGunslinger]

Since graduating high school about two years ago now and having my friends scattered all across the state for school and work I have realized just how important hang out time with the gang is. One way we've kept our group close is by sticking to our traditional hang outs that we've had since middle school and aside from being a ton of fun it's something myself and my friends can look forward when we miss our time together.

There are several traditions that we continue to this day that keep us close and help us retain our sanity while dealing with school and work. We get together for every UFC PPV/event, it sucks to watch these alone or not watch at all so every time there's an event we all meet back up in our home town and go to a sports bar called McCoveys and watch the event with good food and good friends.

Another that I practice with my friends from my old job at the downtown movie theatre is meet up for Wingstop ever thursday night and just spend hours talking over amazingly delish food and when I'm having a bad week I can always look forward to that and it gets me through.

I used to think that having a kind of scheduled hang out would be kinda lame and weird, but now that I have these hangouts it really puts me in a great mood when I know that I've always got those get togethers to brighten my day and keep my friends and I from drifting apart. When you spend time with your friends that often, not only is it fun but you come up with new things to talk about and even learn new things about them even after years of friendship.


Do you have any events/activities that you regularly get together with friends for?

Would you say they help strengthen your friendships or effect you in any other way perhaps?

 

[Notorious718]

Even during high school, I rarely made time to hang out with my friends so there wasn't really a particular activity I took part in with them. I think that was one of my biggest regrets from high school (among other things). Nowadays? I spend even less time with friends since I live two hours away from my school. On top of that, I spend more of my time in school studying or in class rather than putting in time to really hang out with people.

Do you have any events/activities that you regularly get together with friends for?

Well you and I do texting LDs during Thursday and Friday nights for Impact and Smackdown. That counts, right? Plus the occasional WWE or UFC PPV at your place with the gang. Besides that, little else.

Would you say they help strengthen your friendships or effect you in any other way perhaps?

Definitely strengthen my friendships. Now I can talk to people in real life about wrestling instead of just here.

Oh damn, man. Reading my response, I just realized that I don't think I have friends I keep in contact regularly besides you. I need to get out a lot more.

 

[GI Cake]

Do you have any events/activities that you regularly get together with friends for?

Not a day goes by my buddies and I do are best to try and get in a few hours of Xbox before we head off to do anything. My friends and I all just recently graduated from highschool and as such, went our own directions in terms of schooling and career choices. And just a couple of weeks ago we all meeted together in Orlando to hit up Halloween Horror Nights. And we never had that much fun in a long time. I don't know if it was the fact we haven't been in physical contact in so long but it was still great to hang out and forget about the future.

Would you say they help strengthen your friendships or effect you in any other way perhaps?

I think it is a double edged blade here. I think having little days or times to hang out is great because you can still stay in contact with old friends. However, my family and girlfriend think it is silly to try and make time for friends that are hours away from you when you can use the time to try and make new friends.

 

[Mustang Sally]

I graduated High School 14 years ago and still find it ironic how little I see many of the people who were great friends of mine and that I swore I would never lose contact with.

I'm also surprised when I look at the info sheet sent around by the reunion committee from our school, listing the names of all the people that have moved away and can't be contacted, not even through their parents. (It reads: "Do you know where these people are? Let us know!")

I'm one of the folks who still lives in the same town as where I went to school, yet my crazy work schedule and the fact I don't drive or use the telephone always acts as an impediment to looking up old friends. When I do run across them, it's always pleasant; we get together one evening and have a nice time, always promising to get together again soon, although it rarely seems to work out that way.

Keeping touch with your old friends and acquaintances may not seem important now.......but it's definitely something we'll regret in the future. With the Internet, Facebook and other modern communications devices, there are plenty of ways to find your old buddies.

You never know what may happen to them or to you. People often wait until it's too late. Do it now!

 

[Dagger Dias]

Do you have any events/activities that you regularly get together with friends for?

In college I had a few. Every friday a large group of us would get together after class to eat dinner and then just hang out being guys. Sometimes we would play video games (I always won in Mario Kart), other times we would go out to the bar to meet girls, sometimes we'd split into two separate groups with one coming to my place to watch Friday Night Smackdown while the others watched anime at another guy's place. My Smackdown group would always end up back with the other group after it ended, we would all stay up goofing off having fun or play Dungeons & Dragons. Those were some of the best times I have ever had.

Nowadays it's mainly just PPV parties once a month because I no longer have time for weekly get togethers. Friends often ask me when the next wrestling party will be and if I am ordering the next show. It is always something to look forward to especially now that I am busy with real life outside of college.

Would you say they help strengthen your friendships or effect you in any other way perhaps?

Absolutely. People you make it a point to hang out with and enjoy traditions alongside become your closest friends and you have a bond with these people that should be cherished. You will miss it if it's ever gone.

 

[LSN80]

I feel very fortunate myself that I have several groups of friends, ones I almost compartmentalize parts of my life with. There's the "couple friends", other married couples or those in relationships that my wife and I spend time with. I have wrestling friends- guys that I only see for PPV's when we meet up at Buffalo Wild Wings for PPV's. There's my colleague friends, be they ones I went to school with, or have worked or currently work with. We'll meet once or twice a month at a local pub named Scoobys just to hang out and often just vent about the frustrations that have arisen from work since we last met. I feel fortunate to have people from different times and eras of my life who all fit into my life in one way or another. They rarely intersect, but each brings out a different side in me that I look forward to greatly.

However, there's one group that sticks more then any to me. My childhood friends, starting from age 8 for most of them, are a group of guys that I stay in contact with to this day, sort of. Despite being scattered across the country and each of us taking very different life and career paths, there's one thing we do on a yearly basis that I look forward to immensely. It's such a simple thing that lasts half the year, and I don't even see them to participate, but Fantasy Football is the uniting bond that brings us together. Because of a hectic schedule, I was considering not playing this year, until one of my close friends who lives in Vegas called me and implored me to stay in. And because of his call, I did. As much as there is excitement that comes with paying to pay and winning some nice cash if I do, the thing I enjoy most is the constant contact that comes with us playing. It opens the door for us to stay involved in each others lives in other ways as well, and those guys, regardless of the friends Ive made since, are simply irreplaceable.

The biggest thing I realize about myself is this: I feel terribly because contact is often lost during the six months when there isn't NFL football taking place. It used to be an easy fix- Regardless of where we were or what we were doing, the four I'm closest with and myself would go to Ocean City for a week at the end of August. Due to marriage for three of us, combined with the career paths we've taken, it's become virtually impossible to continue to do so at this point. So what we're left with is fantasy football. Generally, when the season ends, we promise to keep in touch and make that "one last trip" each summer, but both generally fail to happen. There's something I find to be great about that, however, is that all of that is forgotten when FF season rolls around. These guys- who I don't speak to much for the other six months- become not only my opponents in a tight knit group, but also my closest confidants during that time. And when FF season is going, it makes me wonder why I don't keep in touch all year round.

Maybe next year.

 

[Theo Mays]

Do you have any events/activities that you regularly get together with friends for?

Of course. Every Monday (barring work complications or bigger things in life) my buddies and my kid brother get together for Raw. And if my best friend can get time away from his girlfriend he joins us, usually once a month. On those day him and I (mostly I) cook dinner for everyone and just enjoy a good meal and good TV. Same can be said for PPV, we are always getting together for those.

Looking back at things I hangout with nobody from my high school except my best friend. All my other friends went to other schools. The people I went to school with are either married and moved away or busy with school. Occasionally I chat on facebook with them, but never do I actually see them. I wish I did and had more time to get back to my old stomping grounds, but there is nothing I can really do about it.

Would you say they help strengthen your friendships or effect you in any other way perhaps?

Definitely strengthen. I'm now really good friends with my brother's best friend. Hanging out every Monday has made me realize the kid is just so damn funny and reminds me of myself. Spending quality time with friends is definitely great and having those traditions makes things even better.