How many friends to you really have?

[Questor]

When I get right down to it, I've only got a few friends that I would do anything for and they would do anything for me. I know a lot of people, but that's not the same thing.

How many true friends to you think you have?

[Old Syko]

Depends on your definition of friends.  If you actually have "a few friends" you are in the minority by my definition.  I have only 1 real friend and I married her almost 38 years ago.  I figure I'm luckier than most.  The rest are family or just folks I'm acquainted with who come and go and nothing more.   

[flintlock]

My definition of a true friend is one you can call for help when your truck breaks down at 1:00am and you are 50 miles from home...Or one you can tell your deepest secret to and know it will stay a secret...

I have 3-4 true friends...

[ncsurveyor]

Depends on your definition of friends. 

Overheard between older gentleman and grandson:

Grandpa, I have over 1000 "friends" on facebook.

The old guy said, "A "friend" is someone you can call and say I need some help, then hang up. They'll show up in 20 minutes with a case a beer, a shovel and flashlight. How many of your thousand friends will do that?"

[Slowhanddd]

The old guy said, "A "friend" is someone you can call and say I need some help, then hang up. They'll show up in 20 minutes with a case a beer, a shovel and flashlight. How many of your thousand friends will do that?"

I can count on on hand the friends that will qualify on this quote.I count them my true friends.Slow

[magooch]

I believe that to have a good friend, you've got to be a good friend and part of being a good friend is to not call on your good friends unless you are absolutely at the end of your rope and it had better not be because you did something you had been warned not to do.

Anyway, I'd say maybe I've got two and they are both family, but even so, I wouldn't want to test it.  I guess I've been tested though, because I once drove 110 miles to rescue my BIL when his rig broke down.  However, it wasn't in the middle of the night.

[Questor]

I was tested once with a dramatic test for a friend. My wife told me about the call when I got home. I was stunned. My first reaction was to walk into the door that leads to the garage. When I bounced off the door I went downstairs to get a file so I could sharpen the lawn mower blades. Ten minutes later when the blades were sharp I had a plan and I was on the next plane to Tulsa.

[45-70.gov]

different  friends  have  different  catagories

i  once  heard a comedian  say
''your  buddies  will  help  you  move
your friends will help  you  move a body''

most  freinds are relatives too  in  my  case

and  only  a few  of  them  would  i help  move  a body

[rex6666]

I have a friend that lives over 500 miles away, i know when he calls for help
he as thought about it and needs my help he does not call for help unless he really needs it. I do the same for him, i can call a wrecker if my truck breaksdown.
I have had some friends that needed help every other day. these friends
were always busy when i was looking for help.

[williamlayton]

I have buddies who call me a friend.
I have friends who call me a buddy.
You are real lucky--REAL LUCKY--if there are three people in your life, not counting a wife, who you really connect with and they connect with you.
I like having friends and will do almost anything too help most anybody--wheather I like them in particular or not. If a person needs help and will ask I will respond.
Friends are a lot deeper than these friendships, they are not based on anything but a true relationship.
And, yup, just like your wife you can get mad at 'em and disagree with 'em---but that does not effect/affect the relationship.
I have lost two of this kind and it hurts.
Blessings

[Swampman]

I once thought I had many friends.  When I questioned their pastor on his doctrine I found that I only had 2 besides my wife.

[Heather]

We have had a lot of ups and downs in our lives and through it all I have two friends who have stuck with me through the down times, and one of those are Matt.  I was actually surprised to see the number of people disappear from our lives when things got bad, but wasn't surprised at who was left.  My friend Felicia was the one who has been by my side through it all.  She was there with us sifting through the ashes when our house burnt.  She visited us in the one bedroom house so that my kids would have some since of normalcy in the aftermath of the fire.  She has given me her last $10 so that my child could have diapers.  She has fed my family when money was tight, and in return I have done the same.  When my mother passed she let me cry on her shoulder and never offered pity.   I have many of acquaintances, but not counting Matt I have one true friend.  She would do anything for us and we in return would do the same.  That is a measure of a true friend in my book.  They are there to lend a hand, an ear, or even a shoulder to cry on when things get bad, and don't EXPECT anything in return.

Heather

[Redtail1949]

Three and one of them is ready to croak.

[Matt]

Acquaintances : Thousands... Really
Friends : A few dozen
True Friends :2 not counting Heather...
Matt

[Sourdough]

I have three real friends, and they all live in Florida, a long way off.  My best friend living here in Alaska had an accident and got killed two years ago. 

Yes I have lots of buddies, but they will bail in a major disaster, I know them too well. 

[Oldshooter]

Three, The wife, my best friend. My second best friend from years ago and My youngest son!

All have been tested by life and passed with flying colors! God Bless em!

I know thousands and some are good friends but these are the ones that I could call for anything! Whats better than that is they know it cause I show them every chance I get.

[45-70.gov]

will  you  pick  up  a pack  of cigerettes  for  your  friend??

if yes  you are  no  friend  or  just  stupid

will  you  hand him  your  gun  if  he  wants  to  end  it  all  over the stock market ?

he   he  is  terminal with  a few  months of  suffering left  and  ask  you to  take  him  out ??  will  you?

will you  drink  with an  alcoholic  friend?
will  you take  his  keys?
 will  you  have a freind  commited  knowing  he will hate you for it?

does  your  need for a friend  over ride what is  best for your friend?
if  so  how  good a friend  are  you

[ms]

Cecil, doc_kreipke, Sheila, powderman, -Shaggy-, jager, billy_56081, Totenkopf.

[redboot612]

1 friend that would come at 2AM if I called.  The other dead beats would come for BarBQ if I grill it and call, or come and get the veggies out of the garden if I pick it and call them. They sure wouldn't come and pick it,  but then again I'm very choicey of who I hang around with.

Red

[slim rem 7]

yep id say the people id call good friends are few..that don t mean its thier fault..
 real good friends take a while to develope.. i usually judge a friendship by whether we ve withstood one real disaggreement an valued each others friendship enough to work through it..if after that happens  our friendship continues to grow ..it just might be a real friend.. my first wife of 33yrs,, was one until something happened [not infidelity] that put a strain on our friend ship that we could never seem to fix..
 always 2 sides to that stuff but i was the one pushing for counseling up until she wanted to part about 12 yrs of semiunhappiness later....
she said things would get said that couldn t be taken back.. i said the marriage mabe depended on airing it all out ,,if we were gonna save ourselves..
 so real friendship for me anyway depends on the ability to totally trust a person you care a lot about..
ones a sister,, ones my wife ..any others have passed on .. that don t mean i don t share love with a good many people..jmo slim
 

[Dee]

Well, I have two for sure, maybe 2 more, but I don't run around with them last two, but if I called they would come. Also I have two that I play music with, and when they found that I was doing a special at church with just me and my guitar they drove 60 miles one way to sit down and play one song at 8: 40AM, and then loaded up their instruments and hurried that 60 miles back to play in their own church. I'm Baptist, and their Pentecostal. I'd call them friends.
My wife has never left my side, and we have seen some hard times. Neither has my mother even at her near 80 years old. I have a brother and law, a sister in law, two nieces by marriage, and one of their husbands that would come a runnin if I called. Their my wife's family, but I guess their my friends too. When my dad died, my church family fed the entire family every day and we had to end up giving food away. I have an uncle that's most times an ass, but if I call him he'll come, and even if he minded, he would help anyway, and I'd never know the difference.
I have a preacher that I've ran with some, and he calls sometimes just ask about my job situation, and offers any help. He was the first to bring food when dad took a his last bad turn, and I have no idea how he found out.
Sometimes I get to feelin lonely, but I am a loner by nature anyway, so it's probably my own fault when I get like that.
The farmer friends I have are friendly to me in church, and when I run into them individually, and let me hunt all their land but when together they stay to themselves, except for one, and he is the same all the time. He's a friend. The rest I think believe themselves to be better than everyone, because of what they have, but I know about their government checks and I ain't impressed. I don't mention I know, but I do, and that helps me cope with their attitudes.
I can't complain as blunt and plain spoken as I am, but given my past experiences and my outlook on things, I guess I'm pretty lucky.
Know one ever really knows their own reputation with folks, because some will tell you anything they think you want to hear, and some will intentionally try to hurt your feelings.

[williamlayton]

If you have no friends--at least you know who your enemies are.
The object of life is to be honest.
If you are honest and someone dislikes you at least it is an honest opinion. The same with friends--they need to see you as you are.
I really don't get to concerned about this friendship thing--it is or it isn't and that is fair.
Helping out, doing for each other---where does friendship fall in? I mean really--If someone is in need--they are in need. Life is too short too care about why someone doesn't like you---they either do or don't, their choice---but helping out has nothing to do with friendship--it has to do with caring that someone needs help.
That is the reason I said at the first post---I have friends that I like wheather or not they like me.
Blessings

[Hooker]

I am truly blessed with lots of friends that would be there for me and I for them.
I have 2 that are more like brothers. When trouble comes I don't have to call on them they are already there neck deep in it with me.
I to married a friend , but she has become so much more than that.
Don't forget that God is the one friend who cannot fail and will never leave us.

Pat
 

[LONGTOM]

I have 1, and that one I believe would take a bullet for me and I in return for him.
That is what I call a TRUE FRIEND!
The rest are just acquaintances.


LONGTOM

[squirrellluck]

Hard to tell friendship from blood here. If one of ours is in need we help and if we are they help. No matter when or where. May not like em all but its our way. Friends,Family its all the same to my mind.

[possum6]

I was going to say I can count them on one hand, but I've started my second family. My WIFE, mother, 2 brother's, and my 4 kid's. I've learnt over the year's, the hard way , that's all you can really count on  

[Squib]

my g/f of over two years... we're young and not married yet but will be when her college stuff is done (and we've got money to totally settle).  she's super sweet, super honest, logical and thrifty.... and she can put up with me when I'm a poop-head.  also my best friend from the marine corps.  he was there for me from when we were roommates our first few weeks in the fleet, up until we got out.  still talk on the phone often but he lives seven hours away so we don't hang out much.  there are other people I'd probably do most anything for but that I'd do it for out of guilt and not actual desire- that's not friendship but loyalty.  friendship is WANTING to see the best for that person and doing it to the best of one's abilities.

guess I only have two.

[slim rem 7]

 dee don t won t to wear this out, brother ..but bud you an i got a lot in common.. i TRY to sing to..
 never mastered a musical instrument but my voice could play a tune fairly well ,,ive been told..
use to love to dance also..the music just talked to my feet..slim
 squib you seem to carry wisdom for one your age.. may you continue to grow..

[SHOOTALL]

Friends like American depends on what is in front of it . There are true friends , good friends , mutual friends and a ton more . True friends , the ones you and them would take a stand with are very few . That's not a bad thing it makes the relationship you have that much more meaningful.

[45-70.gov]

dee don t won t to wear this out, brother ..but bud you an i got a lot in common.. i TRY to sing to..
 never mastered a musical instrument but my voice could play a tune fairly well ,,ive been told..
use to love to dance also..the music just talked to my feet..slim
 squib you seem to carry wisdom for one your age.. may you continue to grow..

yes he does