Max and I go way back, having been friends since the 2nd grade.
We weren’t always the best of friends, but the funny thing about getting old is finding out which people stick around.
So many people in my life have come and gone, but Max is always there. I can count on him, for better or worse, because we like each other just enough to be fully honest. After we graduated high school I told Max my plans of going to school to study the history of Middle Eastern pottery, and he told me I was stupid. He was going into HVAC work, and encouraged me to come with him. I decided to follow my own path, and within a few years Max was running his own small HVAC repair company, while I was $100,000 in debt and unable to get a job. It turns out that Max was right, I was stupid, because I had pursued in education in something there was no demand for! Max was practical, because he knew every single person in town needed heating and cooling throughout the year. There was a strong and permanent demand for HVAC services, and not so much for an expert in Middle Eastern pottery. I decided to hedge my bets and get Max to hire me on part time in his HVAC company while I applied for jobs with universities across the country. Once again, Max was bluntly honest with me, and said he would only hire me if I was enrolled in HVAC certification courses, otherwise I was on my own.