There
is a difference between being friendly and becoming friends. And I have quickly
come to notice in the last few weeks that no matter how friendly I might be I'm
feeling a distinct lack of interest in becoming friends with anyone. It’s like
I was born with an internal friend quota to fill and it’s full. Now I'm meeting
new people and by default they are just spilling over into my Acquaintance
category which is split into 3 subcategories.
1. The
closest level to "Friends"; "Close Acquaintances" this is
one most people would still call friends, but they lack a certain "I
totally want to hang out with you on a Friday Night" quality to them. But
you still have them on your phone to text asking if there was homework. Also
almost everyone I could recognize by face from High School that didn't make it
into my "Friends" box.
2.
"Mid-level Acquaintances" they people you sit next to in class that
you have to remind yourself of their name every time you see them. But for the
time your with them, you laugh you talk. But they're names never making it
in to your phone.
3.
"Casual Acquaintance" this is the run-of-the mill people who you see
on the train or in the halls and you go, "I'm pretty sure I've passed them
in the hall before." or "I'm pretty sure I ride the train with you every
day" but you never make it to the "Hey, my name is ---" stage.
By
now some of you are asking (maybe not but let’s pretend) "If Sarah has
levels of Acquaintances then does she have levels of Friends?"
And
the answer: Yes, yes I do
Again
I split people into 3 groups (because it works well with my brain)
1.
"Friends" these are the people I would like to surround myself with
on a Friday or Saturday night. They are my friendship equivalent of a big hug
or a warm blanket. These are the people I would invite to a sit down Wedding
Dinner. They are people from High School that I wonder how they are on a weekly
if not daily basis even after four years.
2.
"Close Friends" these people range from people who barely don't make
it into my "Best Friends" category. To College roommates I really got
along with. Some days I would even put family members in this Category. These
are People I could name off the top of my head to give numbers, on an average
day this category has more than ten less than 25 people. Oddly it is made up of
mostly friends from High School that I now only speak to rarely.
Now
before I move on to the prestigious "Best Friends" category I have to
make note of the people who lie outside the Friendship spectrum. They are the
friends who are more like family than anything else and they really do deserve
recognition by name. But I won't list them here it’s really enough to say you
know who you are. If you have to doubt, you probably aren't.
3.
"Best Friends" I guess you could kind of compare it to being
Accomplished in Jane Austen's time. But with different requirements. Things
like I could call you in the middle of the night without feeling guilty and you
would almost always answer. You don't judge me when I dance and sing to my favorite
songs. You know what my favorite Ice cream flavor, animal, flower, and color
are. You have to consider me a Best Friend as well and there has to be a
certain feeling of history between us, (examples. you've seen me cry, I've
confided in you about a crush, we've talked for hours on end, , you've accepted
me when I was without friends or lonely). That last one however has proven a
bit tricky I've had friends who make it clear to the borderline between
"Close Friends" and "Best Friends" just by that quality
alone. But they proved lacking in the other requirements.
Now
there is a special place reserved in my "Best Friends" for the person
I haven't yet found who I will want to share eternity with. It like red carpet
and velvet ropes kind of cool but the coolest thing about that level is its
"True Love" and that means that you may not always like them. Someday
I expect I'll want to slap who-ever-they-are upside the head. But I'll always
love them which mean I'll always want to do whatever it takes to keep them.
