Friends?
Seems to me that the term "friend" has been devalued.
I know what I think of as a friend. A friend is a confidant, a person you can trust with life, family and fortune and not worry at all. A friend is somebody who is always there to help and for whom YOU are always there to help. Ideally, your spouse should be a friend, a best friend.
Unfortunately it seems to me that all too often a "friend" is really just an acquaintance. Just somebody you know, not well, but somewhat through work, play, shopping, a neighbor, perhaps even family. Some folks seem to refer to a person as "friend" only because they have met them. No more than being introduced qualifies a person as "friend" in their minds. Now that can't be right.
What should we expect when people greet others to whom they've not even been introduced as "friend" as in "Glad to meet you friend." Sorry, but you don't know me, you don't know anything about me, we are not friends. And just as these well meaning folks cheapen the word "friend" so too do the young folks who date, have sex and then "stay friends." Perhaps I'm old fashioned.
Well, I suppose that you should know that I might like you, will treat you right, never steal from you, never try to seduce or abuse anyone in your family, and never slander you but it will be something else when I call you "friend."
