Every long-lasting friendship requires consistency—one woman says this consistency can look many different ways.
A TikTok video posted by Jennifer Mika (@jennifermika_) has gone viral for revealing the way her and her long-distance friend maintain contact: with one person consistently acting as the “caller”, and the other being the “receiver”. Since her video was posted, Mika has received 1.2 million views and over 210,000 likes.
“Receivers are so valuable,” she wrote in the caption of her friend, Cassidy.
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“I have a tenured friend…she lives in New York, I live in [Los Angeles],” she said. “We have an established calling/receiving friendship…I will always call her…and she will always answer.”
Mika explained that the dynamic works clearly in one direction and will never turn the other way around: “If she ever called me—there’s an emergency, something’s wrong or a big event is happening. Otherwise, it would stress her out, I think, if she felt like she always had to call and check in on me,” Mika said.
Viewers in the comments were relieved to have someone refer to this way of long-distance relating as healthy and functional.
“Wait this is so mature,” @sarah.laughs wrote. “Fifteen-year-old me would’ve dropped the ‘one sided friendship’, but this view is so healthy!”
“My tenured friend and I are both introverts and hang out once every year or two, but we can always pick up where we left off,” @adoeadeer95 wrote.
Although Mika identifies herself as the “caller”, many “receivers” in the comments were especially happy to know people exist out there who understand introverted personality types.
“I love a caller that gets it. I’m a receiver and I always feel worried that my friends don’t know they’re loved,”@kimikaykai wrote.
“I’m just the receiver friend and it’s awful to feel like one of your close friends don’t understand that,” @vbernalx wrote. “It’s not personal ever. I’m just not a caller, but I always answer.”
“I never call anyone ever, not even my parents,” @lauren_g_85 wrote. “But I will WhatsApp—it’s all I can offer but I do everyone still. Thanks [for] reminding me people do understand.”
Mika not only understands, but actually enjoys being the caller, writing in the comments that it would overwhelm her if the dynamic was flipped and she couldn’t reach out.
“She knows my ‘golden retriever’ extroverted personality will always call her,” she said in the video. “Despite how long the duration might be in between our calls, she can comfortably just, like, hang out and relax knowing, ‘Yeah, Jennifer will call.'”
“Like having your personal ‘golden receiver,'” @sandysquirrel69 replied.
Newsweek reached out to @jennifermika_ for comment via TikTok.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Tyler Fields is your internet guru, delving into the latest trends, developments, and issues shaping the online world. With a focus on internet culture, cybersecurity, and emerging technologies, Tyler keeps readers informed about the dynamic landscape of the internet and its impact on our digital lives.
