Friendship: Penn and Teller Style

Kent and I were given tickets to see Penn and Teller as a wedding gift from a few of his co-workers. It was a wonderful gift. Kent is a bit of an amateur magician and was looking forward to the show. I expected glitzy tricks and scantily clad assistants, what I got instead was an intellectual magic show filled with a few astonishing illusions, but mostly an extreme amount of information about magic in general.

We purchased the program to add to Kent’s collection (guess he has a David Copperfield program as well). Inside the program, Penn introduced Teller and Teller introduced Penn in a rather voiced autobiographical prose. Now, I don’t normally read through an entire program (an ADD issue), but this one intrigued me. The men themselves are fascinating. Both are highly intelligent and verbose (yes, even Teller). I found I longed to know as much about their friendship as I wanted to know about their magic.

I began to read about the friendship between these two men. Several insights resonated with me. Penn on Teller “We don’t need no stinking affection. We have respect. From the moment I met him I knew he was the best in the world at being Teller.” What if this was the way we looked at our own friendships? What if we loved and appreciated those closest to us for simply being who they are?

I had, what many call an “AHA moment”. This is the way I feel about my closest friends and hope they feel about me as well. I think that’s why our friendships are so strong and why we have stood the test of time and circumstances. We have “respect”. We come from different backgrounds; we are on opposite ends of the political spectrum; we represent different religions and have different socioeconomic status; yet, there is an amazing bond because we are comfortable enough with ourselves to not only allow, but encourage each other to bring these differences to the “friendship table”. Little irritants aren’t blown out of proportion because we know each other’s heart and know that nothing is ever said or done with malice. We love each other for WHO we are—not what we think the other should be. Ginny is the best in the world at being Ginny. Rosanne is the best at the world at being Rosanne. Kathy is the best in the world at being Kathy and Lori is the best in the world at being Lori and I, well----couldn’t fake myself if I wanted to.

“We don’t need no stinking affection”—but we have it---that and respect as well. I am so blessed---

This I know for sure…