@Scott52 - I agree with a lot that you have stated. This is a good group and we are willing to help each other out, but the big problem is that we are scattered all over the country. Very difficult to help each other when we would never be able to get together quickly. I am afraid that we are pretty much on our own physically.
I also plan to vote in person. Will be interesting to see how that works out this time around.
Good luck everyone.
A gathering of my inner circle could be held in an airplane bathroom and there would be room for dancing.
I just thought I was becoming increasingly anti-social with age (and wisdom?). 
@Tedshred Welcome to our community. Arenât we all, glad to have you here. Bruce and Nancy.
Thanks! Community seems to be a great place to keep up with current events and share with like-minded people. Good to be here.
I donât know if people realize how comforting some of these responses are. But they are a splash of cold water in the face of many in society today. I grew up when words had meaning, (@Proverbs31.10-31 I do feel blessed because of my wife) and threats were taken as threats. As long as things were philosophical I was able to keep close friends in my personal 10 ring. There were ones I was friendly with or worked with that made my 9 ring and there were ones that belonged to organizations and charities I worked with that were in the 8 ring. but it wasnât till the last three years that I started questioning if people outside of the 9 ring were really friends. I hope I am not getting too allegorical or Orwellian but some seem to get it.
It has only been lately I have seen , as @Stephen22 said, people I have joined other groups that I simply canât trust because of their ideology and actions. I find myself making excuses for not interacting with them even if I have known them for many years.
I guess the change came to me when someone I had known for decided to support the BLM movement because, in her words, the police were killing all these young men of color. She ascribed the fault to âthe policeâ as a whole and tried to put the guilt on people that supported the police as being complicit. She was heading for a protest march in LA the next weekend. It was the same weekend the BLM helped take over Capital Hill in Seattle and basically cut off the business owners and residents from the protection services of the city. I hadnât been able to reach out to that person as a friend because all I could see is someone that blamed the police for killing people of color while supporting an organization that produced the shooting of five people of color in Cap hill killing two teen age boys with no one willing to cooperate with the capture of the suspects. By her logic she was responsible for supporting the rioting group that caused death and destruction. So yes she had joined the other side.
To sum it up my group of people I trust has moved in from the 8 ring to right at the edge of the 9 ring getting into the 10. And from talking to my son and grandson it sounds like it isnât an age thing either.
If you are asking about my circle in the last year it has gotten bigger (I have met some of the people from the community).
If you are asking since the Jan 1, 2020 I would say it has stayed the same.
To be honest I dont trust hardly anyone, but the ones I do I would trust with my life.
These are the people who could call in the middle of the night and say help. The only question I need to ask is how many shovels to bring.
Don
People are extremely unpredictable. Iâve added to my awareness to include heavy focus on body language, eye movements and hands.
Someone taught me something somewhere that Iâll never forget. Sounds weird, always take note of the shoes. A fleeing creep will never ditch his shoes, heâll ditch shirts, hats, jackets, weapons and even masks but never the shoes. This is for descriptive purposes. By the time bad guy reaches corner he was in blue sweatshirt, yellow hat with #12, theyâre gone , but the purple and orange pumas are still moving a the speed of light.
Eyes tell quite a story, for example you can always tell when someone is smiling from behind a mask, you can see anxiety, and if you look real close, you can see anger. People actually have to communicate with their eyes at the grocery store or the bank.
With a little military training and being attacked numerous times as a kid with guns, knives, pipes, chains, (I know, sounds like âWest Side Storyâ) once I had to eat a shotgun from a gangbanger (Brooklyn days) if you look hard enough you can tell the difference between a guy going for the eggs or a guy going for the purse.
As a kid I used to people watch, fascinating, 9 out of 10 will always touch the wet paint when the sign is present, 7 out of 10 will always use the wrong door, even when the sign say âplease use other door!
The next time youâre at a restaurant with push/pull door, because I know when youâre seated youâll be facing that door, watch people. The funniest thing I ever did was to place a âwet paintâ sign on a park bench that was perfectly dry and watched.
We didnât have videos or Americaâs Funniest Videos back then, 60âs. What we did have was a lot of time outdoors.
P.S. No such thing as sleepy friendly Andy Griffith towns anymore. These days that would be complacency.
If my circle gets too much smaller even I wonât be in it!
Iâm the type of person that you donât ask a question if you donât want my honest answer, I donât suck up to anyone, and while I will admit when Iâm wrong, I wonât apologize if Iâve done nothing wrong, I expect everyone to do their job to the best of their ability as I do of myself, I hate lazy, and I donât need anyone around that I canât depend on⊠Apparently, these days people call that mean, so I donât have many friends. The three people that have put up with me all these years are my circle. The others are aquaintancesâŠ
My circle consists of 3 people now including myself and my wife. Is it sad my own family isnât even in the circle? There are to many reasons to count why theyâre not in the circle and I doubt theyâd be in any of yours either. My circle used to be non-existent in that everyone was allowed in. Then I grew up
@Dawn
So true maâam! I have to be very careful what I say. A lot of the people I come into contact with do not think or believe the same as I do. So, conversation can sometimes be like a minefield! The ones I connect with the most are local Leoâs and people with a hi sense of duty.
I have noticed, that the circle of trust for me, has stayed the same. Although I interact with a lot more people through groups.
I would like to think it is getting bigger, but as I get older, unfortunately we lose track of friends, or people pass. However those friends eventually get
Replaced with people that have gained my trust.
With that said, I am careful to let people know of my defensive weaponry. And only the most trusted know.
Which are the same people I trust my life with.
@BubbaBear917
We all thought growing up would be so much fun. Until it actually happened. We found out what a gift being an innocent child was. And, now we want to protect our familyâs. Bitter sweet.
Brother this is my take on this, when you seek the lord the people in your family think your crazy, pray for them thatâs all, which Iâm sure you do, have a blessed day brother. Gods got you.
