I spoke with a teenager this week who learned during the pandemic that he is “situationally funny,” by which he means that he’s more at ease in the side conversation and one-off remark than he is as the center of a group’s attention. Covid showed him that, because, in Zoom school, his conversational lane was closed.
So he opened that lane for himself with one-on-one phone and video calls with his friends. When the weather got nice enough, he and two peers made a habit of meeting up in a neighborhood park to talk about “whatever they want.” He formed a daily routine of playing with his neighbor’s new puppy after school.
Teenagers like this one have some things to teach adults about how to leverage technology to strengthen relationships, as well as how to sustain friendships the old fashioned way. I’m listening.
YoRocko! 
Good for you for listening. I like what you hear. I hope your friend has better luck at finding his neighbor’s names when meeting their dogs. When I meet a new dog and they like me (almost always), I introduce myself and get permission to tickle the dog. The owners tend to reply with just the dogs’ names, not theirs!