How do I know you? Are you my Facebook friend? Are you that one kid that sits behind me in class? Are you one of my close friends? Are we total strangers? You're probably wondering who I am, though. Well, I am a convenience friend.
What is a convenience friend, you may ask? A convenience friend is a person who is only someone's friend out of convenience, like living near or with one another, sharing a class together or simply because you're accessible and around one another a lot. You may not have realized you're a convenience friend in high school, but college sure has taken a toll on the definition of a true friend.
Let's take it back to summer semester of college a few weeks ago. I remember watching movies for hours on end with my pod mates and going out with them to the botanical gardens, the local mall or simply down to the dining hall made it feel like we had been close friends for years and years.
Then fall semester crept in and everything drastically changed. My current pod mates are more distant now, although I am close to a few of them here. What about my friends from summer semester?
Now, all of my "friends" from summer live on the opposite side of campus. They don't text back anymore. They don't say "hi" or wave or smile or even act like I exist as we occasionally pass by one another on the sidewalk. I'm not anyone's "go-to" person when they need a shoulder to cry on, someone to help them decide whether they should buy cans or bottles of soda at Walmart and I'm surely not someone that anyone texts out of the blue to check up on to see how my day is. I'm a nobody.
No, I'm simply a convenience friend. So all of this got me thinking, "Are my current friends also only friends with me out of convenience? Where did my 'best friends' from eight weeks ago actually go?"
Real friends don't drop your friendship because you live a thirty-minute walk away from you or because they have made new friends as well. Real friends don't just sever contact with you because you're not the only one in their life that will actually go on adventures around campus or try out new dishes at local restaurants with you. Real friends don't act fake and pretend you're stranger across the hall. Real friends don't stand you up because there're other more "interesting" people they would rather spend their time with.
I am a real friend as well as a convenience friend. I hope that as you read this article you can analyze your friendships and possibly come to terms with your childish actions. I am a real friend, and I hope you are too.
