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Cat Whisperer
Picture of cmr076
posted
In high school and college I had a million friends. Always going to parties, or meeting up with people at bars. Now I am 31 and I have exactly 2 friends (and my wife). Now, I do have a lot of acquaintances that I go to lunch with, etc. But there's usually a purpose for the lunch (work related, planning something, etc). This past saturday the SO and I were at one of the two friends houses shooting and then canning jam and we were talking about it, he said he also has only 2 or 3 real friends that he knows he could call in the event of an emergency and they would drop everything and help, and that he doesn't get annoyed by after an hour.

Is that normal? It doesn't seem normal. I think it has to do with "friends" constantly letting me down, taking advantage of me, and with me being in sales for work I am constantly on the phone, or dealing with employees and customers the most of which are pains in the ass or just flat out annoying.


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246R
 
Posts: 3902 | Location: SE PA | Registered: November 13, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Funny Man
Picture of TXJIM
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Friend- The older you get the clearer the definition becomes.....thus the fewer you have. A couple is plenty.


______________________________
“I'd like to know why well-educated idiots keep apologizing for lazy and complaining people who think the world owes them a living.”
― John Wayne
 
Posts: 7093 | Location: Austin, TX | Registered: June 29, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
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Two that meet the criteria.
 
Posts: 9062 | Location: The Red part of Minnesota | Registered: October 06, 2002Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Conveniently located directly
above the center of the Earth
Picture of signewt
posted Hide Post
At 70++ I got more dead friends and family than live ones


**************~~~~~~~~~~
"I've been on this rock too long to bother with these liars any more."
~SIGforum advisor~
"When the pain of staying the same outweighs the pain of change, then change will come."~~sigmonkey

 
Posts: 9877 | Location: sunny Orygun | Registered: September 27, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Ignored facts
still exist
posted Hide Post
I feel lucky that my wife is also my friend.

But I've found that there are "work friends," who are the people from work who you hang out with, but will lose track of once you change jobs. I've got a lot of these. A ton of them.

Along the same lines, I've had school friends, church friends, neighbor friends, etc. most of whom I lose track of once I had changed schools/ neighborhoods / churches, etc.

“If you have two friends in your lifetime, you're lucky. If you have one good friend, you're more than lucky.” -- S.E. Hinton


.
 
Posts: 11176 | Location: 45 miles from the Pacific Ocean | Registered: February 28, 2003Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Oriental Redneck
Picture of 12131
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I had a circle of friends of about 3 or 4 in college. Haven't been in touch with them for years.

Jesus Christ is my friend everywhere. My wife, of course, is my only friend on earth.

And, of course, a bunch on SF here I would consider friends. Cool


Q






 
Posts: 28035 | Location: TEXAS | Registered: September 04, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
At Jacob's Well
Picture of jaaron11
posted Hide Post
One friend that's like family. As in, I prayed over his mom as she was dying in the hospital type friend. Four other friends that I go to lunch with, go shooting with, go camping with, occasionally hang out with, etc. Lots of acquaintances of varying degrees. About the same number as I've always had.

My wife is truly my best friend, and she doesn't read Sigforum so you know it's true! I'd rather hang out with her than anyone.


J


Rak Chazak Amats
 
Posts: 5298 | Location: SW Missouri | Registered: May 08, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Striker in waiting
Picture of BurtonRW
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by 12131:
I had a circle of friends of about 3 or 4 in college. Haven't been in touch with them for years.

Jesus Christ is my friend everywhere. My wife, of course, is my only friend on earth.

And, of course, a bunch on SF here I would consider friends. Cool


Pretty much this for me as well.

I can think of maybe one person who I would truly call a friend. Otherwise, I'd sooner (and more easily) rely on you all in time of need.

-Rob




I predict that there will be many suggestions and statements about the law made here, and some of them will be spectacularly wrong. - jhe888

A=A
 
Posts: 16330 | Location: Maryland, AA Co. | Registered: March 16, 2006Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Quality friends are hard to come by. I don't think most people know what a friend is.

I've pretty much gave up on others.


____________________________________________________

The butcher with the sharpest knife has the warmest heart.
 
Posts: 13511 | Location: Bottom of Lake Washington | Registered: March 06, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Coin Sniper
Picture of Rightwire
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At last count 83,430 imaginary friends




Pronoun: His Royal Highness and benevolent Majesty of all he surveys

343 - Never Forget

Its better to be Pavlov's dog than Schrodinger's cat

There are three types of mistakes; Those you learn from, those you suffer from, and those you don't survive.
 
Posts: 38427 | Location: Above the snow line in Michigan | Registered: May 21, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
Picture of Rinehart
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I'm a fossil so I feel lucky to have a close handful of friends.

I hear pretty constantly the younger crowd mentioning that they have "hundreds" of "close" friends. Guess they use social media as a metric.

Heard someone from society in Manhattan say once that they invited 500 of their "best" friends to their wedding.
 
Posts: 1512 | Location: PA | Registered: March 15, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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2 very good ones and they're my GF's cousin and her husband.
Plenty of people I can say hi to when I'm out but only 2 good ones.
Normal or abnormal, doesn't bother me.


I'd rather be hated for who I am than loved for who I'm not.
 
Posts: 3652 | Location: The armpit of Ohio | Registered: August 18, 2013Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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I am in my 40's I have three.
My wife.
My friend "B" and my friend "L".

B and I have been friends since the 2nd grade. My parents split up and I had to move around a lot, but when my dad got custody and I moved back in the 8th grade we reconnected and have talked or corresponded at least weekly ever since.

L and I have been friends since college. We usually talk or text daily. When my wife and I started dating she thought it was weird, but since she has come to appreciate it.

You are lucky to have one, I feel like I hit the lottery to have three. It is good for me, L, and B to have a friendship other than our wives that helps us vent off things and get advice in our marriages. Our wives seem to have grasped that as well.
 
Posts: 3718 | Registered: August 13, 2005Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Coin Sniper
Picture of Rightwire
posted Hide Post
On a serious note I hear where you are coming from. In college and back home I had thousands of people that I knew, and maybe 50+ friends that I did things with on a regular basis in different areas.

I had a pretty good circle of friends around here up until two events occurred in my life. The first one was when I got laid off during an economy down turn. People just vanished. Once I was employed again some filtered back. Then when I started coaching at UofM many of them seemed to think I was a fountain of free tickets to any sport. I'm not sure they do that for the big 4-5 sports much less at the level that I coached. Once people found out I wasn't their 'in' they vanished in droves. I was a bit miffed by this, it showed what kind of people they really were, but I was too busy to care. Unfortunately the balance sort of drifted away because I was honestly too busy to really do anything with anyone if it wasn't work or team related. Every event I was invited to conflicted with one or the other.

So now I am down to one guy who I've known since '94. Either of us would wade through hell to pull out the other, even if it was just to say "dude... really?, look at what you made me do..." There are a few others that I keep in touch with, most are 50+ miles away though. I did just reconnect with my best friend from like ages 7-13. He moved away and we lost track, we just ran into each other after over 35 years of no contact.




Pronoun: His Royal Highness and benevolent Majesty of all he surveys

343 - Never Forget

Its better to be Pavlov's dog than Schrodinger's cat

There are three types of mistakes; Those you learn from, those you suffer from, and those you don't survive.
 
Posts: 38427 | Location: Above the snow line in Michigan | Registered: May 21, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Cat Whisperer
Picture of cmr076
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quote:
Originally posted by Rightwire:
On a serious note I hear where you are coming from. In college and back home I had thousands of people that I knew, and maybe 50+ friends that I did things with on a regular basis in different areas.

I had a pretty good circle of friends around here up until two events occurred in my life. The first one was when I got laid off during an economy down turn. People just vanished. Once I was employed again some filtered back. Then when I started coaching at UofM many of them seemed to think I was a fountain of free tickets to any sport. I'm not sure they do that for the big 4-5 sports much less at the level that I coached. Once people found out I wasn't their 'in' they vanished in droves. I was a bit miffed by this, it showed what kind of people they really were, but I was too busy to care. Unfortunately the balance sort of drifted away because I was honestly too busy to really do anything with anyone if it wasn't work or team related. Every event I was invited to conflicted with one or the other.

So now I am down to one guy who I've known since '94. Either of us would wade through hell to pull out the other, even if it was just to say "dude... really?, look at what you made me do..." There are a few others that I keep in touch with, most are 50+ miles away though. I did just reconnect with my best friend from like ages 7-13. He moved away and we lost track, we just ran into each other after over 35 years of no contact.


it's funny. The friend I was with this past weekend has a VW GTI, his turbo went bad, he got it replaced and I asked why he didnt bring it to me, I'd have done the labor for free and given him cost on parts... He said "thats why I didn't bring it to you" haha. Then on the flip side I get people from highschool I dont talk to at all messaging me asking if I can "hook them up with free tire mounting and balancing, free alignments" etc. Pretty interesting and not at all surprising.


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246R
 
Posts: 3902 | Location: SE PA | Registered: November 13, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Caribou gorn
Picture of YellowJacket
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I'm blessed to have a whole lot of good friends. I see some of them daily and I see some of them weekly. I see some of them once or twice a month and some of them I only see once or twice a year. But they are still my very good friends.

I am 35 and live in a big city, one in which I grew up. Its the kind of place that many, maybe even most, people stay after HS and college. Which is great for friendships.

I met many of my wife's friends in college and to this day they are some of our best friends. We have two little boys and have been fortunate to meet many others through our kids. We are active at church and have many friends through that.

I really only have 1 good friend from college, but we were roommates for awhile and I consider him a very close friend.



I'm gonna vote for the funniest frog with the loudest croak on the highest log.
 
Posts: 10631 | Location: Marietta, GA | Registered: February 10, 2009Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Little ray
of sunshine
Picture of jhe888
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I have two or three that are that close.

I have a couple of dozen not-quite-friends. Work friends, or that sort of thing. People I know from a particular situation, but not much outside of that context.




The fish is mute, expressionless. The fish doesn't think because the fish knows everything.
 
Posts: 53362 | Location: Texas | Registered: February 10, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Oh stewardess,
I speak jive.
Picture of 46and2
posted Hide Post
A bunch.
 
Posts: 25613 | Registered: March 12, 2004Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Member
Picture of Prefontaine
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I have a bunch of friends, segmented into multiple categories. Only 2-3 would drop what they are doing to help, and 1-2 of the 3 would bitch about it. The rest are in between close friends and acquaintances to just acquaintances that I couldn't count on for shit, well it'd be a big dice roll. At the end of the day I consider to be on my own and couldn't guarantee help from anyone on the Earth. People change during crisis, most run, few standup. I learned that lesson as a small child so I had a head start on life's lessons compared to most. I figured out that you only truly know a friend, a spouse, a girlfriend, etc, two ways. By either living with them or having a crisis of some kind. You ever want to find out, it'll be medical or financial. Those situations arise, it will be absolutely crystal because many want to be your friend when things are great, but they scatter like roaches when the light is turned on when bad stuff happens.



What am I doing? I'm talking to an empty telephone
 
Posts: 13070 | Location: Down South | Registered: January 16, 2010Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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Other than my wife and my brother, I don't think I have anybody that really counts as a friend. I have plenty of work acquaintances, but since I move every few years with the Army, I don't really keep touch with people I leave behind nor do I really put forth the effort to make friends. My wife and my daughters are more than enough for me, I value the limited time I get with them. Even more so since I'm coming up on my 5th combat deployment.
 
Posts: 2026 | Registered: April 09, 2012Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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