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Anxious hummingbirds spilled their food on the deck at the back of my house.  Attracted by the smell, rows of ants formed, half an inch wide and over fifteen feet long all the way to the bottom of the deck steps, disappearing into the backyard grass.  If I had not known better, I would have thought someone had placed a long black string from the bird feeder to the steps and beyond.
    

They appeared to have an understanding that one was not to get out of line or cause a disturbance that would disrupt their task.  The monotony alone should have caused at least one of them to rebel and break rank.  But, no, the long string of ants moved steadily in rhythmical motion.  Pragmatic and efficient team-players, ants must have developed a genetic instinct to "march to the beat of the same drummer" in order to survive.  Like other animals, humans for example, self-preservation and endurance are of utmost importance.
    

Humans, however, can question--if they will.  They can choose to think and to act, or not to think and not to act as another.  Their abilities to determine right or wrong, good or bad, of actions enable them to consider what might result from how they think and what they do.
    

Though at times, they too "get in line" with their own kind without questioning. The results can be uncomfortable, bad, or even devastating.  There's an old saying that "If it seems too good to be true, it probably is."  We can extend it to, "If it feels wrong, it probably is."  At least it's worth examining beforehand.

Having friends is great! They often support and love us in ways our families do not.  Some people I know are popular and collect friends the way one might collect antiques or Hummel ornaments, and place a dear value upon them.  This is all right, to a degree.  But, even in these relationships, caution in accepting and following a friend's lead, no matter how valuable we feel the friend, is a must.  If in doing so, someone will likely be hurt, then saying, "No," is the best response. Many people have used bad judgment in following their friends, without thinking, and later regretted it.

After watching the ants on the deck a while, I took a broom handle nearby and shoved some out of line.  What did they do?  They immediately formed a different route, a curved one, and continued toward the sticky-sweet hummingbird liquid.  My attempt to divert them was a waste of time--just as any advice I try to give other people about the dangers of always conforming to their friends is a waste.  Ants will be ants, people will be people; and we can learn from both. 

Yet..., it was so easy to grab a can of ant spray from the deck railing and in two sweeps scatter and destroy those pesky little insects.