Are You Sure You Know Who Your Real Friends Are?
Ambivalent friends are more toxic than you realize.
In seventh grade, I told my first crush Mary how my best friends were always assholes to me. She then asked, “why do you still hang out with them?” I had no clue. Sadly, I never figured it out as I continued to stack buddies who blatantly took advantage of me. From stealing my money to using me as a scapegoat. I held onto them for dear life— out of desperateness, I guess.
We all have some fairweather pals lying around. Although not as bad as mine, they tend to harm us more than we realize.
You don’t know their intentions
In this modern age of “what I can do for you” and “what you can do for me.” Many friendships are built on some level of mutual benefit. At times, it’s hard to tell whether someone is genuinely interested in you or simply eying the things you can offer them. Often, these two feelings overlap. Your ‘friend’ enjoys partying with you. But only on the condition that you’ll drive him back home afterward. Or they might do you a favor in exchange for another.
These types of companions put you in a precarious position because you’re unsure whether to keep the relationship strictly transactional or treat them as one of your own. You have to…
