Do we accord this status far too easily to recent strangers ? Is it a reflection of our fast paced disconnected society that somebody becomes a 'friend' after only a couple of email exchanges, or a cup of coffee or the odd random chance meeting at some social gathering. Do you feel you have arrived when you can fill up an address book (when you will never see 80% of contacts in a year anyway) ?
Obviously we may have close friends and we may have casual friends, and we each set our own qualifying criteria for promotion (and demotion) between the two categories. Even what constitutes 'close friend' is questionable as how many of us have actually gone through periods of real adversity and tribulation to actually test the 'all-weather' nature of that dosti ??
A recent study suggested that it becomes progressively harder to make new friends after the age of 25. Why is that ? Maybe because power, wealth and status relationships come into play, and you're no longer judged on who you are but what you are...
Is the actual reality that each person is an island onto themself, and that friends will come and go, and your real support network is your own blood family ??
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