# Your best friend vs. you **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 13, 2014, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-best-friend-vs-you/683647 "2014-03-13T21:54:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Draelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Draelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Draelin)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-best-friend-vs-you/683647/21 "2014-03-14T14:44:31Z")
My best friend is also my roommate, and there are probably more similarities than differences. We met in 1997, and around 1998 there was a period of estrangement that lasted four years, until the death of a third friend we were both still extremely close to, despite not seeing each other during that time. I am three years older than her. We are both redheads, which causes people to assume we’re sisters, but our skin and eye colors are not similar and we look nothing alike. She is tallish and I am short, though we are both overweight and wear glasses. I am the younger of two, she is the oldest of three (all brothers). We both grew up in Northern NJ, though I was in more more “metropolitan” areas and she was more rural. My family was upper-middle, hers working class. She is closer to her brothers than I am to mine, but less close with her parents. Her parents lived mostly separate lives and divorced when she was an adult, mine are still together. We are both liberal, pagan, and love both dogs and cats, but maybe dogs a little more. I’m straight but experimental when there’s tequila involved, she’s bi. I have been single for almost two decades, she has had a series of long-ish relationships but gets bored easily. Neither of us has ever been married or has any children, though we both have had one pregnancy. We share a fondness for most of the same movies, books, and music. She is a little more into high-drama tv, while I have a higher tolerance for silliness. Despite living together for the last eight years and sharing our entire roster of friends, acquaintances, and activities, we rarely fight. In fact, our biggest argument ever was over how long to cook a frozen pizza. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-best-friend-vs-you/683647/22 "2014-03-14T15:30:51Z")
We’re both white Both went to the same school district and bought houses here as adults We’re both fat We both work in software programming He’s a year older, I didn’t fail a grade He’s married, I’m not He’s got a kid, I do not He’s got 4 siblings, me just one He’s super talented in music, I just get by He doesn’t quite get sports, I am a sports junkie He’s got cats, I’ve got a dog He’s a math whiz, I’m a language whiz He’s an uninformed Libertarian I think, and I am Liberal all the way Like **Macca26** and her bestie, we sort of form a nice whole. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 5:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-best-friend-vs-you/683647/23 "2014-03-14T17:46:57Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > She leans towards vegetarian. I **defiantly** don’t. Make that \*\*definitely don’t \*\*. I’ve nothing against vegis, and respect their choices. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![thebenn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dfb087/32.png) [@thebenn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thebenn)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-best-friend-vs-you/683647/24 "2014-03-14T17:55:54Z")
My best friend and I are pretty different. I’ve known him for 31 years; we met in grade school and have been best friends since then. My parents and I emigrated from Vietnam in 1975. They were married until my father passed away a few years ago. I’ve been married for 15 years and we have two awesome boys. My best friend is white, and was born in Kentucky; he never left the state until he was 25. His parents were divorced when he was 6 years old. He’s never been married and has no kids (that he knows of 🆒). We’re also extremely similar - we have many of the same interests, which is what caused us to become friends in the first place!! ---
**Author:** ![chiroptera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-best-friend-vs-you/683647/25 "2014-03-14T19:17:18Z")
I have three women I consider my BFFs. We all know each other. None of us have had children (although one has become an honorary grandma on marrying a man with several grandkids from his first marriage.) We’re each, one way or another, involved in animal welfare/rescue and have cats, dogs, or both. That was the first thing in each case that sparked a common interest. All fairly liberal. Homeowners. Range in age from 56 to 63. We’re all readers and share books back and forth. We each enjoy cooking and eating out, so we also share recipes and food and go out to eat. One of these women is black and a Christian - she’s mostly involved with the church for music and choir; she’s a singer. The rest of us are non-churchy white folks. She is the youngest of my BFFs. All but one of us has at least a bachelors degree (the 63-year-old doesn’t.) All of us have traveled extensively, including living in other countries, except for the 63-year-old. One of us is married; the others (myself included) happily single. In fact the husband of my married friend so often gets called upon to do various automotive and home-repair chores that he jokingly refers to each of us as his Other Wife, his Black Wife and his Short Wife.\* \*Not that we aren’t all capable women. But he is exceptionally capable at Fixing Things and he loves to feel useful. ---
**Author:** ![Moonlitherial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Moonlitherial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moonlitherial)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2014, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-best-friend-vs-you/683647/26 "2014-03-14T20:09:30Z")
So reading this and thinking of all the differences has made me realize that other that a few key traits my BFF and I are very very different. She’s very close to her family and I’ve cut my mother out of my life She’s religious and I’m atheist She just turned 41 and I’m 5 years older She has two kids 10 and under, I have two kids over 23 I’m divorced and remarried and she married her highschool boyfriend She married an athlete and I married a geek She’s sentimental and I’m … not. We’ve been friends for over 20 years and I can always rely on her. We both love travel, have a crazy sense of humour and believe in the power of correctly applied bitch. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2014, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-best-friend-vs-you/683647/27 "2014-03-15T23:31:31Z")
My best friend is my partner. I’m 20 years older than he is, same birthday. I was raised Jewish and he was raised Muslim; as adults we are both atheists. At 6’10”, he’s a foot taller than I am. He’s tall and thin, I’m average height and somewhat overweight. He has two dogs, I have two cats. We live in houses next door to each other. My house is filled with stuff and messy. His house is very spartan. Most people consider him very attractive; few consider me the same way. We both sing Bass. We are both social liberals and fiscal conservatives. Sexually, he’s totally versatile and my tastes are more limited, yet not a problem. He’s more of an extrovert, I’m more of an introvert. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/your-best-friend-vs-you/683647.md?page=1)