Will You Be My Friend?

This is for whatever people who don't know me that may have come this way. That sentence seems awkward, but I can't see a more elegant way to phrase it.

Looking back at most of my posts, I think I come across as a pragmatic, misanthropic bastard. This is largely due to the fact that I am a pragmatic, misanthropic bastard.

I don't meet new people well. Most times, when I meet someone, my first instinct is to assume that person is an either an asshole, an idiot, or otherwise worthless, generally speaking. I realize this isn't very socially healthy, but it works for me. It seldom leaves me disappointed in human nature. Also, I'd wager this instinct proves valid at least 80% of the time. Yes, I realize that my attitude no doubt supports something of a self-fulfilling nature to my interpersonal relationships. I'm OK with that.

I've never understood how people manage a huge group of friends. In my mind, if your number of friends exceeds the legal drinking age, you are likely spread too thin. It may be that people fail to distinguish between "friends" and "acquaintances" in a manner I'm on board with. Just because you are friendly with someone, doesn't necessarily make you friends. It just makes for a socially smooth dynamic. Personally, I would say I have about six or seven people I would call friends. There are two who are close enough I tend to consider them family more than friends.

There are a number of people I am friendly with, and know well enough to not want to strangle them with their own dismembered arm, but would not likely consider friends by my own stringent definition. That definition is simple. If I would be willing to set aside my own gain for yours, you are my friend. If I would be willing to abandon my own gain in favor of yours, you are Trevor or Jay.

Maybe I just hold my friends in higher esteem than most people do. I'm OK with that, and I think my friends are, too.