I keep in contact with a couple people on FB that I went to school with but they are not friends like we use to be. There is also a couple people at work that I talk to I consider friends but not close.
Well Frank, now that I am 82 I seem to have out lived most of them except two that I still stay in touch via Facebook and email.
I have only one really good friend left. we served together in Nam. distance separates us now but we often talk on the phone and stay in touch. over the years ive had a lot of fair weather friends but im glad their all gone. this one is a lifetime friend. a keeper. and he'll do just fine
@Kitty Carmel You are, then, a reprobate like me? Hard to believe. Maybe we could get together.......?
Well,......I didn't consider on-line friends when I asked. I've had a fair number, even drove down to Mississippi from Missouri, to take one up on his offer of buying lunch! Nice guy, half my age, wife & kids, electrician in a Nissan Assembly Plant there. Smart. Honest. He DID buy us lunch. My experiences in electrical workings in a plant setting, he found valuable, and I am always glad to think that, having seen two maintenance workers killed on the job, my suggestiions just might save one, especially an electrical worker. Unfortunately, we lost touch. So much for story-telling. Fact is, I've thought this out closely, and believe on-line friendships are bound to be rather fickle, out of necessity. Ya never see 'em, touch 'em, hear 'em, smell, embrace. That's friendship? Another of the changes in social behavior brought by the computer age. If that sounds negative, it's not intended to be; it simply states what I see. I value those few on-line friends remaining who have not gotten as sick of me as the others! Frank
An excellent point about online friends, @Frank Sanoica . Some of them are going to become good friends, honest, loyal, and true; but the potential for deception is certainly greater online than in person. You make up a name, add a picture, a fake history, and you can "be" anyone you want to become. I well remember one woman who spent her life having online relationships. She was almost illiterate; but she did learn to use a computer. She told people she was a bank secretary, used a sexy profile picture, and went by the name of "Lady Ravishing". Meanwhile (back at the ranch), she hadn't bathed or brushed her hair/ratsnest in a week or two, wore old raggedy sweat pans with holes in them, had all her teeth pulled, and had never worked at a job in her life. She would join the online dating clubs, find Mr. Perfect, and when he sent her money to come and meet him, off she would go. She was actually left at the airport or bus depot more than once, and finally no one would help her get back home anymore. I have not heard anything more about her in years (she was in another state); but I would not be surprised if she is not doing the same thing still.
@Frank Sanoica, I guess friendship is what you make it. Just after I lost my youngest son, @Yvonne Smith reached out to me. A perfect stranger. All she could do after we started to talk on the phone was listen to my pain, and she did for hours upon hours. Ten months later, I lost my husband. Guess who was there for me? Four months later, I just had to meet this person. She had saved my life, and I needed her to know the difference she had made in my life. So yes you can have a "real" friendship with an online friend. As I see it, whether you are friends with someone next door, on the telephone, or online, you are blessed. I never see my husband, my sons, or the rest of my deceased family, and I can't touch them, hear them, smell or embrace them, but I still love them, and I know I'm still loved by them. That too is a relationship. So, I wuv ooo toooo!!!!!
If you meant my response, I wasn't referring to Facebook friends. I was talking about friends that I was once able to spend time with, but who now live thousands of miles from me, so we are in touch only by Facebook. This includes people who were my friends in elementary school. What I consider a "Facebook friend" is someone I haven't actually met, and know only from Facebook.
With the aid of social media, I was able to rekindle my relationship with old friends particularly those now living abroad. Even my classmates are now connected with me. Yes, I have friends and lots of them including some of my relatives whom I treat as close friends. And some neighbors are also my close friends now. It is good to have many friends not really for socializing purposes but just for the thought that you have friends can make you feel good already.
I have a friend from high school who is a real good friend. After we graduated we still kept in touch till she got married. Then children and her husband kept her busy.. Kept in touch with Christmas cards and phone till today. The rest moved away after they got married or went into the service and we fell out of touch. I meet new acquaintances now and then. I'm lucky I got family and some nice neighbors and tv. I'm happy playing games at pch.com too.
I have few friends. Even though I am a pretty social person, where I live is pretty isolating. I would say most of the friends I have are online. This is part of the reason I want to move, because it would be a lot easier to be able to make friends in areas where I can easily get to and participate in activities. I see alot of things I would go to and get involved with if they weren't so far away. I know people here in a local Dem group, but I don't like some of the current candidates.