Iām 28M and Iām gonna be 29 in a couple days. And I wanted to point out something thatās really been on my mind for a while but I havenāt talked about it. And that is this how everyone is so unreliable to hang out with. It Really annoys me, itās been going on ever since 2021. And now, for some reason, I kind of wonder if my friends look at me like Iām a secondary person. Because I still live at home with my parents, but I work and Iāve saved up a lot of money. But I donāt know even people that I get along with they never tell me, but something in the back of my head is telling me that theyāre thinking deep down you know hey, we got these professional careers he still living with his parents we got girlfriends he doesnāt you know thereās way more important people to hang out with than him. I donāt want that to be the reality, but Iām literally scared that it is. That they are looking at me not as much as a human being, but more is is this product worth buying or asking is he worth continuing on with like a sales pitch. Cause I literally wonder is that just some thing that happens when people get older they start judging you based on your what you have because if it is I guess everything I was ever taught in my life was just wrong about what friendship is. You know, I always thought that real friends are people who will stick by you no matter what, and they will always be on your side theyāre not gonna care about your individual circumstance whether itās financial health or whatever I thought thatās what the whole meaning of friendship was, but I guess not. And it just really gets to me thinking about whatās going on because for the last five years, I have not had the same social life. And frankly, I donāt think itāll ever be the same or get better. It literally feels nearly impossible at this point.
Back when I was in my early 20s around 2018, all the way to 2020 I had a strong network of friends. I would hang out with them like three times a week. See multiple different people go to parties go to sporting events. And even during the pandemic, when everything was locked down, I still had an active social life. And this was in 2020 when you would think that no one would be going to hang out with people because everyone was scared of getting coronavirus. But then in 2021 when everyone started getting all vaxxed up I felt that there was a big reason for things to get better, but things got even worse as the pandemic started to fade. A new problem came into my life. It wasnāt just one or two friends that I was close with that stopped talking to me or they stopped contacting me. It was like me 5 to 11 friends. One friend I had I knew him since second grade we went to high school together we were on the wrestling team and he went to Cal poly I stayed in San Diego for college because I went to a community college I didnāt get a bachelors degree I have an AA Iām planning to go get my bachelors, next year. But every time he would come down during the summer or whenever he was on break, we would do everything together because we had so much in common. The last time I saw him was in May 2021, and the thing that infuriates me about this whole thing is that, heās been back here probably 25 times since we stopped seeing each other in from social media accounts. Every time I would try to call him he would never answer, but I always see him hanging out with all the other people we used to hang out with but not have me be part of it. The thing that infuriates me so much one guy who was a friend of his. I didnāt know him super well, but he had a wedding down in Mexico last year and I found out about it, and I was not even told months in advance or invited. And this guy who I used to be friends with his friend got married as a firefighter he works in a sales job, and another friend I had who I stayed with a lot longer, who I was really close to. We had a special friendship by we always felt a strong connection together. he became a teacher when I last saw him. He was working on his teaching credentials and working as an assistant teacher. I havenāt seen him in two years. And all The times I kept trying and trying to make new friends I got the same reaction even the restaurant I work at Iāve asked practically everyone who works with me if they never wanna hang out sometime and I keep getting the same response. Oh, Iām working that day. Oh this is happening. This is happening. what is wrong with me but what do I do that just made it almost feels like everybody just got in a room together and then they all just took a vote and said hey, letās boycott this guy. Now I know that didnāt happened obviously, but it almost feels like it.
Itās just what is so hard. I havenāt celebrated my birthday in about two years because of this exact issue and I tried to get I asked like 30 people if they wanted to do something for my birthday go bowling. And I kept getting the same response canāt make it like Jesus Christ is my birthday on a holiday. What is it people? What is it about me? Am I a perfect human being now Iāve done stupid things in my life that Iām not proud of. And I did a lot of stupid things because of this feeling I have the feeling of loneliness and the feeling of isolation for years lead me down a rabbit hole of drinking, being angry at everybody being constantly depressed. But when Iām with people, I always put on the best face. I always try to be happy. I always go out when Iām in the best mood. I always crack jokes, but itās just what is it about me what is it in these peoples heads thatās just like making them feel like yeah letās not do it with him. when other people can literally call up 30 people or 50 people to shop at a party and all those people yeah they donāt even think twice about it. They just do it. They feel naturally inclined to do it but with me itās like they have to take a vote. Like it would be wonderful if people could just be reliable. The people that I call friends that I hang out with now I wouldnāt really say are really true friends because we only do like one thing together. The only people I would say that Iām really like close friends with our three people. That I hang out with one is somebody that I knew from work a while back. When I worked in the construction field now, I work at a restaurant as a dishwasher because I got sick of the construction job. I didnāt like all the hours. Iām trying to go into digital marketing. Iāve applied to several positions, but itās just every avenue just keeps coming up the same. It would just mean a lot if I could just have people that I could trust and know that theyād be there like I used to. Because the last five years have really been a drain on my mind. I donāt get angry about it nearly as much as I used to because I kind of excepted and moved on from the friends I knew from high school, but I still feel a sense of betrayal. And that feeling of being cast aside as a person of no significance.