Friendship.

"Friendship is like peeing your pants; everyone can see it, but only you know the true warmth"

I want to address the ideas of being someone's friend. What does it mean? What social customs must one partake in to become one? What does it take to maintain a friendship?

I think friendships fall into categories. You have your acquaintances, your fringe friends, your transient friends, your core group, and if you're lucky enough, a best friend or two.

 The acquaintances in your life are people you've met through different social gatherings; i.e. class, clubs, going clubbing. They are people you meet but will never see again. Sure, you might add them on facebook, but in about a year, when you're culling your friend list, you'll stumble across them and ask yourself, "Who the fuck is this?" and promptly defriend them. These are not people who you would normally find appealing to have in your social circle, but given the parameters (i.e. you have class with them, you are in a club with them, you woke up next to them after a drunken stupor) you feel a certain connection.

Your fringe friends are friends of friends. You'll go to a party and know maybe 8 people there, but by the end of the night you'll have been introduced to about 15. That's 7 more people that you know because of a friendship with someone else. You will see these people again, maybe 3 or 4 times in your life. They'll show up at someone's birthday party and you'll reintroduce yourself and then reminiscent about that one party where you met that one time. You will friend them on facebook, but you will never interact with them except to creep when one of your friends comments on something. If you see them at starbucks, you would go over and say Hi.

Transient friends are much like fringe friends, except they are friends of a whole group as opposed to a single person. Your core group of friends stays close together, but your transient friends will join you for a night out on the town or split a pizza with you when you're watching a movie. If needing a companion for something, and your core group of friends are busy, looking to your transient friends are the next people you look to. When you talk with them, your conversations are mostly fluff, never getting down to the real issues you're dealing with. Also, THESE PEOPLE ARE GOOD FOR DATING. They will not screw up group dynamics with a nasty break-up.

Your core group of friends are the people that know you. They are the friends that you would spend a whole day with on a weekend. You guys talk, a lot, about anything and everything. You get to the bottom of emotions and you help each other. These are the people that will be coming to your wedding, when the time comes.

Your best friend is a special person. They are the person that knows the closest thing to the true you. You share your secrets, your hopes, your dreams, your desires with them. You love them, simply put. They are also the only people who could look you in the face and tell you you're being completely stupid. They are honest with you, and will not sugar coat things if something needs to be said. They will be the people standing next to you at your wedding, the one who organized your bachelor/bachelorette party. They are the ones that will pick up the phone at 4 in the morning because you need to talk to them.



Maintaining a friendship is difficult sometimes. Distance, lack of communication, sex (the getting or lack there of) seem to be the main contenders as to why a friendship doesn't last. But, persevere me hearties, for friendship is one of those things that are the intangible factors of happiness.

So, I guess what I'm trying to say in this post is kinda easy. Count yourself lucky for the friends you have, and work to elevate the relationships around you. Friendship is worth it.