Friends

I've been thinking about my friends lately and how much flakiness bothers me when it comes to friendship. I mean, if I know you have nothing planned on a Friday night and I ask you to hang out, how am I supposed to feel when you choose not to? Or how about if I ask you weeks in advance to hang out and continually remind you about it, and then at the last moment you choose to do something else? Especially when "you" is someone I consider a close friend?

So we have the flakes--those friends you can't count on to be there, whether or not you ask them in advance. And of course they don't plan in advance so they won't be calling you to hang out either.

Where does a friendship like that go? I don't like it when friendships peter out due to neglect, but am I responsible to carry a friendship on my own? Is that really friendship? And should I just let it slide when a friend bales on me?

I know everyone flakes on someone at some point, but I'm talking repeated offenses here. I don't need someone to hang out with every day or every week, I just need someone who will make an effort when I want to get together with them. I want friends who will pick up the ball right where we left off, whether it's been days or months or years. And yes, I have many friends like this, and I love and appreciate them. If you're reading this, you're definitely not a flake.

Sigh. I guess I'll just have to see what happens with these friends in the long run.