The internet loves a good relationship theory, especially one that feels uncannily accurate. This week’s entry comes from a man walking down a Manhattan sidewalk, calmly suggesting that your closest relationship might not be your partner, your best friend, or your sibling. It might be the coworker who survived your toxic workplace with you.

Jake Clay, a 29-year-old content creator based in New York City, posted a short Instagram video on December 6 that quickly took off, pulling in more than 1.7 million views. His premise was simple and delivered without much flourish. “The strongest relationship is a coworker that you’re trauma-bonded with,” Clay said. “Nobody’s seen evil like you’ve seen evil together. Nobody knows the war zone that you’ve walked.”

Clay went on to describe the kind of

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