Friends

"Hey, Richard, why didn't you reply to my facebook addy? I sent ya an invitation weeks ago!!?". This is one. "Add me in your Facebook, will ya? You do have a Facebook right?" This is another. And there's always the "Dude!!!! Check out my Facebook profile, and gimme a few likes, ok?" And who can forget the classy "Richard, goddamn, why don't you fuckin' play Farmville with me? Are we not friends!?". Lots of lines, we've heard them all once or twice, here or there. But what do they mean? Probably nothing. Probably a sign of the times. The thing is why do people tend to over stretch? Overreact? Use and abuse? It was not as if Richard was one of those hipsters who think it is cool to be a "facebook hater", one of those who pride themselves of not even having looked to a Facebook profile, and probably mock the ones who have. In reality those pricks also overreact in a ridiculous way. But at least those usually stay on the back, and as annoying as they might be, at least they keep silent and don't actively bug you with the so called "Facebook friendship". Really a time to say "get off my back Facebook"!

"Friend" is a word that, apparently, has taken new meanings, new boundaries and new interpretations. Such a peculiar, and sometimes, odd word. Probably a word whose meaning we take for granted, but now it's changing. Rapidly changing. To a point where one has to start to reflect of its meaning to oneself.

Who are they? Our friends? Or as some may also question: where are they? Life is quite grim without friends, that's a sure fact. One can't go by without friends. One needs friends, to learn, to share, to give and take. But the funny thing in life is that, if on one hand, friends are all around us, but, in the end, only a few do matter... Along the years one will gather a lot of friends, some more than others, but that's the way it goes. But not every single one of them will survive this day-to-day, month-to-month, year-to-year battle we call life. Some we push away, some disappoint us, some simply go some other way. Life simply happens...and we can't do a damned thing about it. Probably that's why they invented the freakin' Facebook gizmo. A cibernetic way to try to maintain a sweet illusion of having lots and lots of "friends". Probably that explains why some people are so stressed in having more and more friends in their Facebook page. I bet that some would go as far as creating a profile for their pets just to add them to the number.

Some friends, ourselves included, are meant to go away. To vanish in the haze. Some will disappoint us, yes, but the vast majority simply evaporates, they simply move on to other places. A few will return, but the harsh reality is that only a small percentage of those few will still have something that matters to us. Evolution (or de-evolution) goes a long way.

So, accept it. If by the end of your life, when you're too fuckin' old to even care about farting in public, if you have a handfull of friends, just two or three that you know you can't count on, no matter what, then you can say "i have Friends". Those who stick around are the ones who matter. And they will not be many. Accepting and embracing this truth is becoming harder and harder in a World each time less prepared to accept and embrace col true facts of life. Like the oh so dramatic natural process of...getting older. It's there, you can't do jackshit about it, accept it, and enjoy. You may have thousaands of friends in that Facebook thingamajig, but how many do really count?

Gunther Dünn