A Love Letter To All The Work BFFs

Let me first say that work can be tough. Day in and day out, you go to the same place and do more or less of the same thing for way too little money or credit. Whether we like it or not, we spend more time here than anywhere else. Sometimes, the best thing about it is the people surrounding you. If you’re lucky, you make some work friends. If you’re really lucky, you make some real friends. You find your “thank god I have you” people. People you know basically everything about—their friends, family, wardrobe, habits, secrets, who they’re sleeping with, what’s for lunch, what’s for dinner, their to-do lists. You have inside office jokes that no one in the world will understand, like how Ronny brings you trinkets from Costa Rica and how the new coworker might be Madonna’s daughter. You feel off if they’re on PTO. You feel betrayed if they leave for the day without telling you. Everyone at work knows you’re a package deal. The fact of the matter is, you are a package deal.

In a matter of months, they become your emergency contacts. Whether you realize it or not, work besties are oftentimes the glue holding us together. It’s tough when work seeps into our everyday lives, oftentimes bringing it home. Those people that keep you sane from 9 to 5 are actually working around the clock, and we don’t even realize it. As we struggle to find our place in the office, in the home, in the bedroom, in the world, the work BFFs are there through it all. They make every minute inside and outside of work bearable. They understand and never judge. They are best friends in the absence of best friends. They get your humor and accept you for exactly who you are. They remind you not to take life too seriously. They are always there for a good vent sesh. And, trust me, you need those. They have your back, and your front, and your side, too.

Like I said before, we spend most of our days working. It’s not news that sometimes working just sucks. But guess what? That girl that’s a cubby over or the guy in the pod next to you, those people are vital to having a successful career and a happy life. Do not overlook them. Cherish them. Hug them. Thank them.

To my work BFFs: Thank you for keeping me grounded when I feel like I might blow away. Thank you for staying constant in a crazy world full of change. If you don’t do what you love, do it with people you love.