Friends...

I can count on ONE hand how many close friends I have. And trust me, I'm not using all five fingers. The fact is, although I know a lot of people, not too many people know the real me. Not too many people know my story.

I will not use this post to provide you with a bio. I will, however, take this time to speak about FRIENDS! Me being a 20-something black female in DC, it's so easy to meet new people, make new connections, etc. I can almost do this with my eyes close. And through these connections, I may be able to make a “friend” or two. But as times goes by, so do the friendship.

This seems to be the typical story amongst people in my age group. As with many things in life, things fall apart. And most of the time, it’s not because someone did something wrong to the other. I am very aware that sh*t happens.

One of the things I’ve noticed is this idea that just because it’s on facebook/twitter/myspace it has to be true. I honestly believe that social networking has changed friendships. People read your facebook page and think they know everything there is to know about you. I honestly still believe that the majority of us have an online personality. And most of the time, it doesn’t really match with what someone sees in person. I’ll save that particular topic for another time though.

I remember a while back I posted a quiz online with basic questions about me. Questions such as where I was born; where I went to school; etc. NO ONE GOT more than a 50%. I'm not expecting everyone to score 100%, but damn.

I recently spoke to this guy that I’ve known for years and he asked if I knew when his birthday was. So I quickly went on facebook in hopes of finding this information. Big FAIL! He informed me that he closed his facebook account. So of course I felt like a donkey's behind because I relied so much on this website to give me all the information I needed to know about those that I considered a "friend".

It is possible that the definition of friendship as I see it, is not necessarily the way others do. Friendship (to me) is more than hanging out with someone. A friend won’t put you to the side when they find themselves romantically involved with someone. A friend just calls to say hello and talk for the sake of talking, rather than calling to see if you’re available to go to a club/lounge/etc.

I am very comfortable with the small group of people I call my friends, because I do know that they care about my best interests.