Alright, alright we all saw it. Kanye West did what? Again? To who? What a jerk! Right?

I agree with most of you. Punking a sweet girl like Taylor Swift and robbing her of her once-in-a-lifetime moment on national TV in front of millions of people was pretty uncool. To quote Ye, “How could you be so heartless?”

So now that I have that out of the way, it’s time for me to talk about the other side of the story, the side where Kanye felt passionately about sticking up for and speaking out for a good friend of his. (Don’t get it twisted, I don’t agree with the WAY he did it.)

Good friends, real friends, are not always as common as people want to believe.

Before I moved to Japan, I had a huge going away party. Close to 200 of what I thought were my closest friends, came to say sayonara. I remember feeling like such a celebrity. I couldn’t believe I had that many friends.

Turns out, I didn’t.

A little over a year later I had a “Homecoming” party. 11 people showed up… and even that was probably twice as many as needed to be there. I realized pretty quickly that when it comes to friends, quality beats quantity every time.

Having great friends is important. Being a great friend is more important.

Here for your reading pleasure is the 5 lessons we can learn from Kanye West on being a great friend. (Which have been cleverly paired with songs by ‘Ye)

“Everything I am” – Be Real.

Pretending to be someone you aren’t isn’t cool at all. Everyone can agree that Kanye West is who is. He doesn’t try to be someone he isn’t and he doesn’t try and fit in with certain people. He is who is and he doesn’t expect everyone to like that.

By being real, you earn trust. People know what to expect from you. They know that they can count on you the same way we can count on Kanye to crash the stage at award shows.

Don’t try and be someone else. If you have to fake your personality to try and be friends with someone, they’re probably not worth being friends with.

I guess that means I can take off these glow-in-the-dark sunglasses and skinny jeans now.

“Heard Em Say” – Listen.

Good friends listen. Period.

Did you hear me? Hey you! Are you listening?

Good friends listen.

They don’t listen waiting for the other person to shut-up so they can talk. They really listen. Sometimes they listen to give advice. Sometimes they listen to give hope and sometimes, they just listen.

People have ups-and-downs and good friends are the ones who are there to listen to the parts about the “Good Life” and they also listen when it “All Falls Down”

Be the person who people feel comfortable coming to. Be a friend who will listen without judging.

“Can’t Tell me Nothing” – Speak Up, Speak Out.

As much as Beyonce was clearly appalled by Kanye’s actions, I’m sure there is a small corner of her heart that was slightly touched by his craziness.

Good friends speak-up and stand-up for each other. They don’t talk about each other behind their backs. They lend strength and support to their friends in times of need. And if they hear someone spreading “Bad News” about their friends, they speak-up for them. That’s what friends do.

That’s what Kanye did. He was doing what he felt a good friend should do. He thought a friend of his was being treated unfairly (it wasn’t anything personal against Taylor Swift), so he did what he thought was right at the time.

“Apology” – Apologize.

Everyone makes mistakes. I do, you do and Kanye does but not everyone has the courage to apologize.

When you make a mistake, when you hurt your friends, talk to them. Do whatever you need to do to let them know you were wrong and that you feel bad about it. Apologize. The last thing you want to have is a small misunderstanding transform into a reason you lose a friend.

You might not have to make a tearful appearance on the Jay Leno show or write about it in your blog but you need to apologize. Most times the simplest apology is enough.

Saying sorry shows and tells your friends that you care and sometimes apologies lead to new friends or “Stronger” friendships. I am sure Kanye and Beyonce will still be friends. I am willing to bet that Kanye apologized and is probably STILL apologizing.

My other prediction, Kanye West + Taylor Swift = NEW BFF’s. You heard it here first.

“Two Words” – Give and Take.

Good friends give and take.

After a quick view of my *legally purchased* iTunes library and reading a Wikipedia entry, I counted over 100 collaborations that Kanye has been a part of and hundreds more that he produced. From Jay-Z, Dilated Peoples and Lil Wayne to Patti Labelle, Keri Hilson and Ne-Yo, Kanye has contributed to tons of other people’s careers.

Taking a look at the track listings of his albums, you will see that a lot of the artists that ‘Ye has helped have also helped him.

That’s what good friends do. At certain times they give and at other times they take. Friends look out for one another and lend a hand to each other but they’re also not afraid to ask for a hand in times of need. (Kanye wrote a book about this called “Thank You and You’re Welcome”)

Be the type of friend who helps but don’t let it be one-sided. If you need advice, help with something, someone to talk to or even a haircut, ask your friends. Your real friends will be there. Trust me

I know everyone wants to write Kanye hate mail and tweet about how he’s the world’s biggest jerk, but “Breathe in, Breathe Out” and cut him some slack. He was doing what he thought an “Amazing” friend should do. There was probably a better way of doing it but he did what he thought he should do.

You can’t hate a person for that.

This is it. You asked for it so I deliver it, just like a pizza but with less garlic so you can still kiss someone after consuming it.

The Make Your Own Lunch™ blog.

This is the place for you to come and learn how you can Make Your Own Lunch™. (Psst, hey new guy, Make Your Own Lunch™ isn’t really about food… Click here to learn about it)

This blog is a place where you can learn about what other people have done to Make Their Own Lunch and how you can do the same. You’ll learn about travel, education, money, hygiene (if you have to pause to smell you shirt -and it smells like a Junior Whopper – I’m talking to you) and a lot of other cool stuff.

You wanna learn how you can volunteer in Thailand, working with sick elephants? That will be here here. You wanna know how I got the chance to move to Japan to teach English in the heart of Tokyo or how I backpacked across Europe and Central America? I will let you know how I did it. You wanna know how to make more money or land the part-time job you dream of? Cool, I will make sure we write about that. You wanna start your own business? Good news, that’s also going to be taken care of here.

You want something else? Email us and tell us what you want to know and we will get our team on it!

Aside from having all this awesome info, we’ll also post interviews with people who are Making Their Own Lunch and doing some really cool stuff (think surfing photographers, professional croquet players and scuba diving instructors) We will also post videos and pictures to show you that we aren’t lying about all this stuff!

Our goal is to write about the things that we are passionate about. For some of us it’s music and travel, for others it’s making money and staying healthy. Bottom line, we want to help you create an awesome life that you are excited about living! We want to help you Make Your Own Lunch™ and love every minute of it!!!

Check back often and make sure you join me on Facebook and Twitter.

Bon appétit!

–Ryan–