Lemmy? He’s a close personal friend.

A colleague of mine has been challenging my concept of knowing and knowledge. In the last week we have enjoyed more than the average number of anecdotes about his footballer mates, made more poignant by Gary Speed’s death. One of his mates, naturally.
The challenging part for me is his friendship merely extends to having shared pleasantries with the player/celebrity. Maybe passing the time of day, talking about the weather. To him and his wife, such communication counts as a new friendship. But is it even an acquaintance?
Why am I even bothered by this? I’m not sure, but I feel you mustn’t get complacent or entrenched in your world view, eh?
But then again, this is the man who reckons he can speak 17 languages because he is able to say “hello”, “goodbye” and “thank you”