In search of familiarity

Do relationships in the city grow into a serious matter too fast? Why do I think this must be linked with troubles finding friends?

"I met this guy two weeks ago, he's amazing. We are basically living together!!"

Yet, friendships are so hard to build and even harder to keep. Ever so often competition is felt more than socialisation and people who you consider friendly acquaintances tend to belittle you in order to feel better about themselves. So if you have an EGO and you don't like to be put on a step beneath others, and if you believe that friendship should be an honest exchange of experiences made on the same level, you often end up being lonely.

I lost the count of how many times I hear people saying, I have to schedule a month in advance to see my friends, and I cannot count how many times they cancel me or I cancel them! Everyone is busy.

Are we that busy for real? I mean, we all work so hard that even adding some social events to our working routine feels like a mission at the end of the week. But saying that we do not have time to talk to friends seems taking the matter to an extreme.

Possibly, having met people at university, who now are doing travelling experiences and other stuff I have done when I was their age, I am suffering a bit the loneliness of the "older friend" who has got old friends, but in another Country. People of my age are interested on keeping the friendships they made at university and are not so interested in new ones. After all, I would probably do the same if I was in my home town, seeing the same people, going to the same places, gossiping about the same characters.

Still, I can't deny that I miss familiarity. The sudden call to a friend to say "I'm popping around for a coffee like...now!" and she will just be there on her home clothes. And the caffettiera would make that unmistakable sound. Coffee is ready...never-ending chats about the latest romance, the hilarious sharing of embarrassing moments we would never tell anyone else of, never laughing at each other, always laughing together, the safety that comparison is for the analysis of life, and never to feel superior, and then it all becomes philosophy in a cloud of cigarette smoke; knowing each other’s mums and brothers and sisters and baking cakes together and drinking the home made limoncello till it's over...who needs a boyfriend when you have familiarity?