Meet the Members: Owen and Nida
22nd March 2016We’re always telling you that you can meet life-long friends at our socials, so to prove it’s true, we decided to interview a few of our members to tell us more about their Thinking Bob story.
We asked them everything from how they met to what they think of each other – and the results are… interesting!
This month, we’re introducing you to our 2015 Host of the Year, Owen, and his lovely friend, Nida.
They met at Thinking Bob, and this is their tale!
Owen on Nida
“When Team Bob asked me to write something about my friendship with Nida my first thought was “How on earth do I explain that one….” swiftly followed by “NICELY! She knows where the bodies are buried!”.
“In all seriousness, Nida is one of my closest friends in the world. She is kind, caring, considerate and altogether a lovely person. We have the type of friendship where we understand one another, can talk about anything (and I mean literally ANYTHING) and where time spend together is comfortable, easy and fun.
“We are pretty inseparable, and our love of people and passion for enjoying life makes for a fantastic friendship. Nida is one of those people who has a gift for bringing a smile to others faces and touching peoples lives with laughter, love and understanding.
What better way to celebrate a friendship than with Rockaoke?!?
“We met at Thinking Bob back in June last year. I will confess that I did have to ask Nida for that information, as I feel like we’ve been friends forever!
“I remember admiring her outgoingness and down right cheeky laughter. We quickly discovered we share an absolutely terrible, and mostly inappropriate, sense of humour. That was the start of a fantastic friendship.
“Over a few more events we got to talking and soon realised we share some very similar life experiences. I also realised that we were both able to share confidences with one another easily and comfortably.
“I’m not sure when an acquaintance becomes a friend, but it seemed to happen very naturally for us. We’ve shared so many good together now that we have real history, whether it be our antics in Prague or our time spent sat at my kitchen table nattering the night away after Thinking Bob events.
“Whether I’m having a good week or a bad one Nida is often my first port of call to share it with. We text and speak most days, but to go a week without a face to face catch up is pretty tough for both of us.
“When planning our upcoming trip to Vienna with Thinking Bob we both, automatically, said that we need to be on the same flights, partly because of Nida’s fear of flying but mostly because I need an adult with me at all times! But really it’s because we want the chance to natter all the way there about what we’re going to get up to, and then about what we did get up to on the way back!
(Picture credit: Simon Vint)
“Our time together is really important to our lives now, but it isn’t always exclusive. We are a bit of a double act that welcomes other people and values their presence and input in our time.
“I think I’ve said as much as I can in terms of explaining how close we are and how much I appreciate Nida’s friendship. Coming to and living in London was tough for both of us in our own ways, but it’s become so much easier and more enjoyable with friendships like this one.”
Nida on Owen
“Owen was one of the first people I met at my very first Thinking Bob social (Bobs Break…all those months ago!). I think we’d been put on the same team together and I just remember laughing so hard my ribs hurt the following day. I added him as a friend soon after receiving the ‘Here’s Who You Met’ email, saw him at a couple more socials and now he can’t get rid of me! Ha!
“It’s difficult to pinpoint exactly when an acquaintance becomes a friend. I realized fairly early on that we shared a sense of humour, a love of inappropriate shenanigans and a passion for all things politically incorrect!
“These things aside though, Owen was someone who quickly won my trust. He was happy to tell me when I was right, tell me off when I was wrong (which is often) and just listen when he knew I needed that. He was also more than happy to laugh at me, which is always the sign of a good friendship!
“Some of the best nights I’ve had have involved staying out far later than planned, Ubering to Owen’s in deepest, darkest Essex, throwing together something to eat at 4AM and chatting either until the sun comes up or one of his housemates is woken up by our raucous laughter…whichever comes first! This pattern was repeated in Prague and I think that definitely helped cement our friendship.
Nida (third from left) and Owen (far right) feel the Thinking Bob Prague love
“One of the sweetest things Owen (or anyone) has done for me was to make sure we were on the same flights during the Thinking Bob Prague trip last year because he knew about my crippling fear of flying…I could’ve kissed him!
“I value honesty in people and Owen is one of the most honest people I have met. He has a huge mouth but an even bigger heart! He does laugh like a drain and drinks like a fish, but underneath the wine-loving, crazy, funny exterior is a deep and complex human being who I am grateful to have met and proud to call a friend 🙂 ”
You’ve read their Thinking Bob story… now start your own!
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