what is a friend?

[wareagle69]

ok guys teach me about friends, i am not good with people when i sit in the lunch trailer i realize i have nothing in common with these guys they talk motors and boats and cars and quads and hunting and fishing, even when i try to relate they look at me funny i am an extreme American in a northern Canadian city i have been in combat plus my other chosen extreme sports that you know takes a different personality.
when i moved here 7 years ago i was a different man than i am today i was just coming off my pro career and was into partying made a good friend but about 18 months into the friendship he moved 6 hours away, we get together a bout once a year and he was just here this weekend to see the homestead but i have realized we have nothing in common anymore so i am at a crossroads do i drop the friendship ? like i said i am a social misfit i fit with others of my kind folks that can relate to me i can talk to coot about some things trax others and nell about all things, but you guys are in the virtual world not here in mine. sad maybe but i have my wife and my horses and little brown dog(and skinny white dog) but brown dog i have had a relationship with longer than anyone so anyhow what is a friend to you?

[Rick]

Listen. I don't sweat that stuff. Folks drift in and out of our lives all the time. Some good some not so good but I figure I can learn something from all of them. If they like me, fine. If they don't like me then that's something they have to come to terms with, not me. I pay more attention to the ones that don't particularly like me because they are the first to tell me when I mess up. My friends will let me walk around all day with broccoli in my teeth 'cause they don't want to hurt my feelings. Go figure.

[rebel]

For me, when I make a friend it's for life. That's good and bad. However, I do have limits.

Like you, I'm different. My past experiences are so far different from regular folk, that folks think we're lying.

That's the reality, or un-reality. The point is, I've moved and don't look for acceptance in this world. I can smile in adversity. I enjoy who I am and what i believe.

[FVR]

Friends, a good one, if you have one in a lifetime you are lucky. I had one in the USMC, Mike. We got an apt. out in town in Oki., and just had a great time. He was as good as friend as oneyone could ask for.

After I got out, he wrote me about some of my doings. He threatened to take the next mac flight out of Oki, find me, and kick my ***. Just reading that letter, I got my act together.

Yet, all things change. Many years ago, he asked me to move out to Cal. and we could be border agents together, I passed. He got into some sheot, he is now in jail, been there for a few years and have a few more to go.

Other than that, don't have many, there are alot of aquaintences, or hunting buddys. But we only socialize during the hunting season, and now that I really do not hunt, I get together with Allan every now and then. But good friend, I guess. If he got his butt in trouble, I'd be there, if it was reversed, who knows.

Now, I have a good friend, let's call him Doc Fitz, cause that's his name. Never met face to face, but I would give him a body part if he needed it. Good phone conversations, emails, and all.

Both my wife and I have been burned by friends, it's just the way it is. Wife and I stay friends, well, most of the time.LOL.. You know what I'm saying.

Social misfit, yeh I guess I fit into that category. I'm not much into sitting arounnd with the guys talking of fights anymore, sports........naaaa, not me. Hunting, yeh I will sit around and talk at the end of the day around the fire, but during the day, stay the F away from me. If you do that, we will get along just fine.

[wareagle69]

rick-people not liking me does not bother me i am well used to that
rebel- you hit the nail on the nail i see peoples questioning looks when they find out about my past experiences because they cannot imagine doing it themselves then i must not be, it is a point that i do not share about my life anymore which kind of defeats the point of getting to know someone.
frank- my one true friend is my wife i am lucky that way, but my animals are my friends they are loyal and show unconditional love and besides which if i do have brocoli stuck in my teeth they will try to get it so they must be true friends.
we have said many many times here that most of us are a different breed than most folks out there probably why we get along here but could we put up with each other if we lived close enough to socialize?

[Sourdough]

In the movie "Paint your Wagon" Lee Marvin does a nice piece about partner, and what it is to be a partner.

[owl_girl]

Thats very interesting remy though im not sure I interpreted it the way you were trying to get it across. But I think I get it for the most part. I dont totally understand the empty bag though.

I form long lasting friendships from time to time that I find very deep and fulfilling. They dont have to have the same hobbies or experiences, infact the more different the experiences the more intreuged I am and the more I want to learn about them. Im very curious about people and love trying to put myself in others shoes in trying to understanding them and where they come from rather or not I agree with thier pionts of veiw I can usually still understand where they are coming from.

Friend are the ones Im most devoted, suporting, and nurturing to. They are cherished.

[huntermj]

I wish i could say something useful here but i find myself in about the same place as you. Last week i had maybe 25 personal phone calls, this week my phone has rung once, a buddy wanting to go kayaking. the difference, i don't own a business this week. They were just people who wanted something from me. I think life is a journey that we walk alone, we will meet many people along the way but in the end we are alone. I would rather have spent the last several years building a homestead rather then a business it has more value in my opinion.

[nell67]

huntermj,

I agree with what you said about them wanting something,the fastest way to find out who your true friends are 1) get sick, or 2)lose your income,either one of those and only your true friends will still be around,another thing is to move farther away,I moved to a neighboring county a few years ago 15-20 minutes away,and it might as well been across the country.

[Sarge47]

I'm a "friendly" person, just don't go out of my way to form bonds. Of course we move around a lot. My best friend is my wife, the next my grown kids. The dog's in there some where. I don't have people over; I don't fit in socially, shoot, if any of you got to know me "in the flesh" you'd probably start avoiding me. I think that this site is made up of, mostly, social misfits, & that's why it's so popular. Good thing too, otherwise none of us would have a place to hang out.

[crashdive123]

Many use the term friend, but few probably agree on its meaning. I have internet friends, business friends, childhood friends, social friends and lifelong friends. Friends can make you laugh; make you cry; will support you always; won't judge you; are always there for you; won't run away when things get tough; is trustworthy; somebody you can confide in; somebody that will listen to you. Time and distance can decrease the amount of time you spend with a friend, but they can't change the relationship with true friends.

[nell67]

SO true Sarge,LOL you know the song, "Ya ain't much fun since you quit drinking"? Lost quite a few friends when I quit making the rounds at the bars.

I would rather have a truckload of "virtual friends" as WE called us,than to have even one "convienient" friend,someone who is my friend because it is convievient for them.

[Sourdough]

I'm a "friendly" person, just don't go out of my way to form bonds. Of course we move around a lot. My best friend is my wife, the next my grown kids. The dog's in there some where. I don't have people over; I don't fit in socially, shoot, if any of you got to know me "in the flesh" you'd probably start avoiding me. I think that this site is made up of, mostly, social misfits, & that's why it's so popular. Good thing too, otherwise none of us would have a place to hang out.

Where do people go who are banished from this forum....? INTERNET pergourtory......?

[wareagle69]

i agree with huntermj i am spending my time building my homestead with my wife, i have no children(that i know of) although i wonder about one but she would be 21 and i wouldn't be a father to her i also have no family i was adopted a 2 and a half and was thrown to the wolves when i was 12 so i don't understand the words mother father brother sister aunt uncle, i understand rlely upon yourself, even when i was a ranger, bullrider and a cagefighter i felt a kinship with those men but not a friendship, i have been told that when i am old i will be lonely but what about the first 70 years that i am not lonely, even the wife agrees that she feels sorry for people if something happens to her cuz i will be grumpy but i will always have my horses and dogs and wilderness survival so call me a looser for not being able to form any lasting relationships but i can live with that, i do appreciate my friends here which is why i hold my comments sometimes, also why i created palerider cuz i was trying to bait someone and say what needed saying and if palerider got banned then at least wareagle could still fly

[Sourdough]

Maybe, A mans dream is his best friend.

[BraggSurvivor]

I see a trend here. A bunch of social misfits.

Myself, I have tons of friends, and at least 6 I would put my life on the line for.

If my life came down to needing "internet friends and relationships", there is something funky defiantly going on.

[Ole WV Coot]

That "life on the line" is a joke. Was drunk with my "friends" in a bar and irritated a guy and his pals. My "friends" were the first to fold. One guy with us, just out of Lorton(prison) that I knew just to speak to backed me up. I learned to depend on me, never had anyone I could open up to. Might as well get adjusted to it, you change and so does everyone else so do your thing and be civil. I have many so called friends but none that I would really count on outside of my immediate family. I guess I am ready for the rubber room now.

[wareagle69]

I see a trend here. A bunch of social misf

If my life came down to needing "internet friends and relationships", there is something funky defiantly going on.

gosh thanks bragg thats the nicest thing you've ever said about me
the internet friends do fill a need someone to convers with that knows me in a way that i show them not unlike real life but i can just turn off the computer when i am done. want to know the thing that irritates me the most? a ringing telephone doesn't happen very much but i am a very selfish person i have always done what makes me happy and fills my needs and ya know what i sleep realy well at night thats what irritates her

[nell67]

I see a trend here. A bunch of social misfits.

Myself, I have tons of friends, and at least 6 I would put my life on the line for.

If my life came down to needing "internet friends and relationships", there is something funky defiantly going on.

Defiantly??LOL.

I don't care how much your friend weigh Bragg,what really matters,or should matter,is if Bragg lost everything,for whatever the reason how many of those will still come around when you have nothing left to give of but yoursef,?? You may very well be surprised.

[tsitenha]

wareagle69, would yo call "Bow" a friend or an acquaintance?