The One Sided Friendship

We've all been there. The friendship that seems resemble a river, only flowing one way. My tactics when making friends are simple; we get along, laugh together, connect with someone or all of the above, we can be friends. I guess I use the "Innocent until proven guilty" approach. For someone easily hurt, this is not the strategy to use.

One who takes on this frame of mind has to be prepared for a world of pain. Alright... that could possibly be a little bit of an exaggeration, but I can't stress enough the ridiculousness I've encountered throughout my life in the social realm, especially in my recent encounters in Charleston, SC. Let us explore...

I have met several people in this southern city that feel friendship and opportunity should come to them. If you're the main character of the new and exciting Spielberg flick, than yes, I'll probably come to you. Unfortunately for me I know none of these people. Therefore, you can conclude that whoever I'm talking about has no fame or political clout ergo no excuse for the following:

• Continuously rejecting plans based on the distance from your home to mine but getting angry when I refuse to come to you. (News Flash: It's the same distance from your house to mine as it is from mine to yours)
• Expecting me to support you in your various activities such as sports, parties, etc., but repeatedly blowing off anything important to me in which I express my desire to have you there. Thanks friend.
• Allowing me to pay for many things (especially when it was clearly a loan) and then not only failing to return the favor, but proclaim that the payment period has expired and is no longer valid.
• Upon meeting my new boyfriend for about two minutes and exchanging no more than a handshake, proclaiming I can do better. 
• Deciding it's appropriate to judge everything I do or say not only to you, but to anyone else you might know.
• Publicly bashing the people of which I date or associate myself without any base for your reasoning.
• Expecting me to join you in your plans for the night and get upset when your desired plans were not in the cards for me that night.
• Not calling but expecting me to call
• And the kicker, doing ALL of these things and telling me I've been a bad friend.

If you qualify for more than two of these things, I'm surprised people hang out with you. I know that I am reevaluating what I require in the people I choose to spend my time with...

What? My name isn't showing up when you're phone rings? It's because I found better friends, Douche!

Ending on a positive note: Lucky for me, the friendship strategy I described in the beginning of this post has allowed me to meet some amazing people. The ones that stuck around and didn't pull these ridiculous stunts are very much in my life, and I consider myself so lucky. You know who you are wonderful friends :)