Friendship: The Gift That Keeps on Taking

I can count on the fingers of one hand my true friends, and that's not including the thumb. (According to the Oxford Dictionary, "It's more accurate to describe a thumb as one of five digits that we have on each hand, rather than as a finger.") One of these special people recently suggested our collaborating on a book on the pitfalls of friendship and wondered if it would have any appeal. I'm guessing it would, since the particular poison commonly known as Betrayal and served up by a "friend" has been swallowed by everyone I know at least once, and likely more often than that.

While true friends are scarce, false friends are out there for the taking. Nobody likes to be alone, certainly not in public, and so people are willing to tolerate just about anything to avoid seeming unpopular. I have, in my day, put up with deceit, boredom and downright abuse just for the payoff of sharing a large pizza or seeing the latest blockbuster film. But those were the old days; now that I am entering my eighth decade on Earth I have put a stop to all that nonsense. Besides being sick and tired of bad treatment and no longer interested in pizza, there's now Netflix.

In the interest of research for our book -- working title, What Are Friends For Anyway? -- I'm hoping to hear from anyone who has ever been mistreated by an alleged ally. Send your anecdotes (and suggestions for a better title) to: andreaschamis@gmail.com.