How Many Friends Do You Have?

[SanFranciscan]

My husband told me today that he wished that he was more popular. He has brought this up before. There are certainly people whom I like better than others, but I worry less about having friends than my husband does because I have seen how many people claim to be "friends" with people who are really just clients. Quite frankly I try to keep my professional life and my personal life as separate as possible.

How many relationships do you have with people outside of your family which aren't business-related?

 

[AustinTink]

I have two best friends and I'd say a dozen very close friends, whose families socialize regularly with mine. Then there are all the peripheral friends, a few dozen more. While I cherish my friendships and enjoy our interaction, I'd always prefer to be just with my family. That has always been enough for me.

 

[jlewisinsyr]

There are levels of friendships, almost like circles. The first are my intimate friends, those that know pretty much everything about me. Then there are my close friends who know a lot about me and so on and so forth.

I can tell you, my personal, friend contacts in my BlackBerry are around 100, and again, there are degrees of these. But for all my friends, intimate, close, etc, if they were in trouble and needed me to come get them, no matter the time or day, I'd do it.

 

[stitch1986]

I have 2 close friends and just coworkers who i talk to at work but never hang out outside of work and then only 1 other friend who hang out once in awhile, i get depressed once in awhile cause since i dont have many i dont hang out hardly :/

 

[FlightlessDuck]

I'm not sure. There are quite a few people in church I am very close to. Same with work. But I don't see any of them socially. The only people I see socially are family. But as for intemmit friends, best friends, friends who really know me: 1. My wife.

 

[w0rM]

I have about 6 people in my life that I'm really close with but only 1 that I'm like best friends with.

 

[mrodgers]

Have 3 very best friends. One of them is friendly enough to have sex with, the other 2 are 10 and 7 years old and are results of the sex with the other....

 

[Liberty Belle]

I have three best friends, but they're from way, way back and we don't see eachother much (only one lives in my town). We talk a lot on facebook and sometimes the phone. We all three lead very, very different lives, though, so life just kind of gets in the way. We need to make the time to see eachother more.

Other than them, I would say I have two other close friends and then several I'd feel comfortable eating lunch with, but I don't consider them close friends.

 

[luvmy3]

I have one best friend, one close friend and a few friends. I am an only child and have always been comfortable being a loner.

 

[DisneyScraps]

I have friends that are people I socialize occasionally with but they are more fair weather friends. I someone in my family got sick or something bad happened I would never see them again.

I have 4 high school friend that I am still friends with. I live out of state so I rarely see them but we keep in contact via Facebook or email.

My funeral won't exactly have them lining up!

Lisa

 

[indimom]

One "best" friend who knows everything about me and who I see regularly.

I would also consider my three sisters "bests" as we all get along well and like to go to movies, shop, out to dinner or hang out when we can.

Three more old friends who I get together with very occasionally, like 3 times a year or less.

Many acquaintances who I enjoy chatting with via work or church or school, but don't do get-togethers with.

Since I provide day care for a living and have done this for my "best" and my sisters, I do mix work and friendship a bit. But the friendship came first.

 

[TheIncredibles!]

I have zero close friends - outside of my family - by choice. There is way too much drama that I do not need so I stopped seking out friendships or trying to maintain the ones I had.

My best friends are my DH and my sister. Socially we go out with my sister and her husband and my two brothers and their wives. We have a great time together, rarely fight and when we do it's just easier to get past it because of that lifelong love we have.

 

[ZephyrHawk]

Welll, Facebook says I have 74....

In all reality, DH and I share 4 (two couples) best friends. The 6 of us make quite a team (when 2 aren't living in New Zealand...Skyping into parties is no substitute). There's probably about 10 more people I consider my really close friends, and another 10 that are just 'friends'. Everyone else are just 'acquaintances'.

 

[kathie859]

I have 3 friends who know where the bodies are buried
Another 2 who I would consider close friends.

And a plethora of acquaintances and people with whom I am "friendly"....but they are not intimate friends. Like another poster I keep business and personal associates separate but I have had one business relationship turn into a friendship.

Re: the issue of having more friends that my DH, I am much more outgoing than he and have more friends. He's never indicated that he was bothered by that fact.

 

[*JoGo*]

i have my husband, of coarse.
outside my house, my best friend is my sister-in-law --- my husband's sister.
and next would be my brother-in-law (her husband).
the 4 of us hang out often and we get along great.


i also have 3 friends from my kids' school. we see each other at school, text, talk on fb, and go out (girls only) about once a month. my sister-in-law goes with us also. but i don't get into "heavy" stuff with them, just my sis-in-law.

my dh has said to me, jokingly, that HE gets sis-in-law if we divorce. lol!


edit to add:
sometimes my having more friends than dh has bothered him. he is VERY introverted, and his work does not allow him to make friendships (he's the boss... difficult position to be in when you make a friend, then have to fire them). he also has never been interested in hanging out with MY friends' husbands (anxiety). but his sister's husband has fit in PERFECTLY. she was very worried when they started dating, b/c she couldn't bear her brother not liking him, but it's turned out great! now, they don't call each other up and talk. but occasional texts and they enjoy getting together all of us.

 

[Feralpeg]

I have many people I am friendly with, but I only have two good friends. To me, a good friend is someone who will be there for you year after year through thick and thin. A good friend will accept you at your worst. I can tell my good friends anything. I would not hesitate to put my life in their hands.

Most people are nice and may be pleasant to be around, but will they be there when the chips are down and it is inconvenient for them? If not, I do not consider them a good friend.

 

[TheBigBadWolf]

I have three best girl friends besides DH and my brother, whom I consider my VERY best friends. Then I have about ten friends that I really like a lot and see fairly often. The next circle of friends are people I don't see that often but talk with on the phone and see occasionally, but are still friends that I love and wish I saw more often. There are maybe 25 in this category.

 

[ckoncurat]

I am really only truly close to my husband, children, and my sister. That said, I have over 100 people on my christmas card list and over 300 friends on facebook. Most of those people I only contact through facebook, or we socialize at events we are at, like school events or church or kids activities. I will do a "girls night out" type of thing maybe 2-3 times a year. So I guess I have lots of aquaintences, but my family are my true friends.

 

[momof1princess]

none. there are people i am friendly with, and there is one couple that DH and i hang out with socially (on the rare occasion DH has a day off), but if the you-know-what hit the fan, i'd be on my own, aside from DH. he really is my best friend. i do get sad sometimes that i have no female friends to hang out or go to lunch with, but it is what it is.

 

[LizabethSwan]

none. there are people i am friendly with, and there is one couple that DH and i hang out with socially (on the rare occasion DH has a day off), but if the you-know-what hit the fan, i'd be on my own, aside from DH. he really is my best friend. i do get sad sometimes that i have no female friends to hang out or go to lunch with, but it is what it is.

Same with me. I am a retired SAHM and when my son graduated, all the ladies I knew from his school, went their own way. Wish I had more friendships, maybe someday.