Gang Leader for a Day

Sudhir Venkatesh's work is, to say the very least, both inspiring and motivating.  Prior to entering the CHI course at Texas A&M, I had never really imagined spending time with anybody except for the people I was familiar with while participating in tasks that I was familiar with.  Entering college, for example, was a fairly nerve-racking experience.  It incorporated the introduction of both unknowns: new people and new activities.  I quickly settled in to the computer science environment and stuck close by it.  Over the years I have had introductions to new people and experiences, but only on a minimal level.  For example, a very good friend of mine was met through tutoring and he was somebody that I would have never approached outside of the college environment.  That didn't stop us from becoming best friends, however, which now makes me consider how much I am possibly missing out on from staying in my comfort zone.
While Venkatesh questions the validity of his friendship with J.T., I feel as if they were.  Granted, they may not have had the same kind of relationship that Venkatesh maintained with his other 'friends', but what if their friendship wasn't determined by Venkatesh's point of view?  J.T. was in charge of hundreds of Black Kings, all of whom he certainly had to consider were at least friends.  Look at J.T.'s senior officers T-Bone and Price, both of them had been friends with J.T. since high school yet they were both using J.T. as a means to better their own life (similar to how J.T. relied on them).  That is powerful evidence against the idea that Venkatesh was simply using J.T for his own personal advancement and therefore could not have still had a friendship with him.
While neither I, nor Venkatesh, are suggesting that it is a brilliant idea to go out and mingle with the local gangs, I am suggesting that a key social experience cannot be obtained without stepping outside of one's box.  I have done countless things over the past year that I would have NEVER even considered doing if I had never crossed paths with my friend.  Similarly, I have been able to introduce my friend to things that are brand new to him.  It has been a mutually beneficial stroke of luck that I could not be more thankful for.  So, personally, I will never forgo an opportunity afforded to me again.  While not every opportunity to step out of one's comfort zone will have such a spectacular outcome, the innumerable opportunities that will certainly be missed by never doing so is something worth trying for.