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I may not have been around for a long time, but I've grown to understand teh difference between friendship and "true" friendship. In this, our current world, friendship is something simple: two or more people with a small bond that can easily be broken at the smallest, stupidest thing... or, in the case of a dear friend of mine, something major, like dealing with death and depression. True friendship is the complete opposite of what society deems to be "friendship"; real, true friends are the kind that will stay by your side no matter what comes at you. A real friend will be willing to drop whatever they're doing and help you if you're in desperate need of it.



My friend, whose name I won't state to protect their privacy (They know who they are, though), went to visit family out of country and lost a family member to criminals. Since returning home, they've been dealing with depression, and, despite their parents taking them to therapy to help them deal with it, their friends have since abandoned them. They don't let them sit with them or do anything with them, just because they no longer see them as the same person anymore. What is this? BULLSHIT, is what it is. It's these kinds of people that sit around, waiting and looking for the right place to add insult to injury when you're already suffering and need their help that hold us back as a species. If you can't rely on people you consider friends to be there for you, what's left?



I'm not going to come out and say that I've been through teh same thing as I honestly haven't. I know what my friend is going through, though. I know what it really means to be someone's friend. IN this day and age, and especially with the youth of today (YES, I CAN SAY THAT! I'M OVER 20, I'M NOT YOUTH ANYMORE!), the definition of "FRIEND" in the dictionary doesn't read "someone you can watch TV, play video games, drink, smoke, or do drugs with, or any combination of the above. As I've already said, a FRIEND should be someone you can count on for support in rough times. As it stands, the number of people willing to be this way in today's society is exponentially decreasing by the generation. By the time 2015 comes, there may not even be any "True Friend"-type people left in this world.



To end this, many people will tell you they'll be there for you when you need them, but when the time comes, all they do for you is cast you aside for voicing your problems and asking for help. However, there are people who say they're you friend, that they'll be there when you need them, and that no matter what happens, they'll help you out however they can to the best of their abilities. THOSE are the people who are true friends.



A friend shouldn't be someone you make fun of for getting wasted out of their mind and falling down a flight of stairs, and they shouldn't be someone you make fun of for getting bad scores on video games. I know what it means and what it takes to be a true friend; the real question is...



CAN YOU MAKE THAT CLAIM AND BACK IT UP?



And to my true friends, I needn't put your names down. I know who you are, and you know who you are. That's more than enough for me. ^_^