I often find myself wondering how I come to be best friends with my coworkers when the goal of my parttime job was to earn a little spending cash.

The truth is the friendships you find in your coworkers creep up on you out of nowhere.

One day you’re sitting as strangers making small talk about similarities you share with one another but not extending information about yourself that extends past the subjects you’re both majoring in. The next thing you know, you’re going to movies together, their birthday events, concerts, and crying to each other during your shifts about the things that stress you out the most. I share personal stories, fears, and stresses with my coworkers that I wouldn’t even tell my friends of 5+ years.

It truly starts with the little things.

First, you notice what they take in their coffee, then you offer advice or an ear to the problems their facing with their significant others or family and then you’re following each other on every social media platform. It may be that I work with some quality people or it may be that I spend more waking hours with them than I do my other friends. Whatever it may be, there is some sort of invisible magnetic force pulling my coworkers and me together.

The best part about having your coworker double as your good friend is they simply just get it.

They know the irritations and challenges that come with the job position and never judge you for having a day where you feel as if the job is against you and not for you. They also know that some customers can be Satan, himself. The pep talk that comes after the experience of a bad customer can be the recipe for turning around your whole day. In essence, coworkers are your biggest cheerleaders.

If you have a work friend that doubles as your good friend then it’s no mystery as to why Christina Yang and Meredith Grey are each other's “person."

It all started in the workplace! So, here’s a personal shoutout to all the coworkers I’ve ever had–past and present– that provide me with the best laughter, gossip, group messages, and experiences to grow that comes from simply learning from you.

It’s so much more than seeing you from shift to shift, it’s the life friend I now have.