Joe90 wrote:
An acquaintance is somebody who you have to do all the arranging to meet up, otherwise you won't hear from or see them any more, even though they enjoy meeting up with you.
A friend is somebody who gives you a call or text of their own accord, suggesting to meet up. Even if meeting is few and far between because of being busy with your own lives, making time to text or phone each other should not be much of a problem.
An acquaintance will only talk to you in the place you met, like at work, and would not suggest to meet up with you out of that place. Also they won't ask for your number, if they do you probably won't hear from them.
A friend will want to see you out of the place you met, and also want to have your number.
I like your explanation. Based upon this, I currently have 2 friends. All others are simply acquaintances who I associated with out of convenience, boredom or routine.
Joe90 wrote:
For me, people come and go. I have thought I made friends before, then it feels more like an acquaintanceship, then they just turn into fair-weather friends until I don't hear from them any more, even though I try to keep in touch. But I have been rejected so much during my teenage years that I think it has set me back and has made me become afraid to get too close to people.
I also had this feeling of being rejected when I was young (both during pre-teen and teenage years). Most people (other than the quirky ones) quickly realized I was a bit different and simply preferred not to be associated with me.
Joe90 wrote:
Sometimes I lie and tell people that I do have a group of friends that I see frequently and do things with, just to that it looks like I'm not some sort of loner.
I do remember trying to pretend I was not the loner, I really was. So, at school, when others were socializing during breaks, I would find places to hide (e.g. computer lab, library, etc.).