Friendship

[LeftEyeNine]

I'm not sure about the use in English, but friends are everywhere as logn as you have normal social functions and is called "Arkadaş". And those are rare but stand aside with you when you are in deep **** are called "Dost".

Therefore IMO there are 2 of them and I prefer having friendship with the second group. I do not waste time with people, I create time for those that worth it.

[Somebody Else]

I rate it on how much notice I need to give if I want them to come for a drink with me... or whatever.

My best friends - I'll call and be meeting in a bar within half an hour, at the other end of the line - there are some people I'd only invite along if it was a big gathering like a flat-party (uni-style). And then there are those I won't invite at all, but will chat to if we happen to be at the same event...

[Evil_Maniac From Mars]

I view my friends in three classes, essentially. I try not to rate them as people, but how close friends they are to me.

3: People I know only over the Internet, or people I have only met maybe once (not including family for the second one, of course. It's hard to meet everyone in an extended family like mine often). They may be (and usually are) a good crowd, but I simply don't know what you're like in real life (or I know very little of what you're like), and would probably trust this "class" with very few things that may harm me, if any.

2: People I have known for a while. Real life friends who I can have a good conversation with, head to the movies with, stuff like that. Most of my friends fall into this category.

1: Close friends. I would trust them walking behind me with a loaded shotgun, even if I was carrying millions of Euros on me. Friends who are as close or closer then quite a bit of my family. Friends I have known for a long time. I would place no more then five or six friends in this category. If zombies or the Americans attacked, this would be my guerilla squad. The friends who I can really trust, and the feeling is mutual.

[A.Saturnus]

True friendship means for me that I'll be there if the other needs me, whenever, whatever it is. It is also a relationship that cannot be destroyed by any means but death. If someone is my friend, he will be my friend, even if he becomes selfish, an *******, crazy or whatever. He may change, but I won't.

(Language - Beirut)

[Justiciar]

I try not to get too close to most of my friends. I'll find a clique and hang on for dear life until I'm given the boot, without really getting too chumy with anyone. I've been seriously lucky in that, though. Occasionally someone will seek to become better friends with me despite of any distance I keep. Through that proccess I've gained a close group of friends who've stayed with me despite the fact that I'm a selfish arsehole that essentially neglects them. That's friendship tbh.

Gheyness.

[Avicenna]

Personally, I haven't had many experiences yet being still at school, but I agree with Quid in that it's probably only soldiers or people such as operatives and police who get to form such close relationships that you would willingly sacrifice yourself for him/her.

My closest friend doesn't have the kind of 'best friend' bond with me that some of you have described (willing to do anything). People at my age are probably still too childish for that. Lots of people I know are quite selfish, being spoilt by their parents. That probably doesn't help either.

[Major Robert Dump]

There are certain things "friends" can do that reflect so largley on their character or their role of me as friend that it will make me shut them out without warning.

One of the biggerst letdowns I ever had was when a good friend explained to me that his ex-girlfriends new boyfriend was stalking him, and then one day he shows up with his bruised face the size of a watermelon. Apparently the guy jumped him after a concert and threatened to do it again. So I start going out with the friend where this assailant might run into him, just for the sake of protecting a friend and returning the favor of bulldozing him when he wasnt looking.

Then, on Napster of all places, I find a file called "Matt ********* real tough guy" just by lucky chance. I listen to it. Its a series of answering machine messages, with dates and times, where Matt calls and leaves threatening, offensive messages on the new boyfirends machine. These were terrible, terrible things that you dont say to people, let alone their girlfriends. Any man with half a testicle would have jumped trhis guy too.

Then some people also told me that "Matt" instigated the altercation at the concert, and his story pretty much checked out when I talked to tohers.

In short, this guy used me, lied to me, was willing to possibly have me get my ass beaten for the issue that he wrongly brought on himself, and continued to lie about it. Never talked to him again, didnt tell hima bout the Napster file, but did email it too a lot of peopole

On a side note, the napster file also had a message from after the Matt buttkicking, where he threatened the new boyfriend by saying he was in the mafia, had powerful drug dealer friends, and relatives who were lawyers. What a frikking joke this guy was.....