Matters of The Heart - Friends

Friends

The dictionary defines the word “friend” as:
1. A person whom one knows, likes, and trusts.
2. A person whom one knows; an acquaintance.
3. A person with whom one is allied in a struggle or cause; a comrade.
4. One who supports, sympathizes with, or patronizes a group, cause, or movement: friends of the clean air movement.

Friendship is sacred. A friend is someone who knows you well, who likes you, who trusts you and this friend will always be there for you during your time of need. Unfortunately, many of us are guilty of misusing this word. We call a hi-bye schoolmate a friend, we call an overly nice auntie who sells bread under our HDB block our friend and we call our girlfriends’ friend our friend.

It seems like everyone in the world has become friends with one another but the reality is, someone can only be called a friend only if there is an element of trust, like, know, alliance and love.

I myself have misused the word “friend” in many instances. But are we wrong to do so or is the dictionary over zealous in defining the word? Must a person fulfill all the requirements before he can really earn the title of “friend”?

Eight years ago, Roger made friends with this guy called Wilbur. Their friendship grew stronger and stronger each day as they were always spending time together doing what they enjoy. Slowly both of them began to understand one another more and both parties learnt that sacrificing for one another is necessary in this friendship. As the old saying goes: ”Hey what are friends for?”

Three years later, Wilbur met more new friends and started to neglect Roger a bit. Due to the negligence, Wilbur started not to know Roger as much as before. The trust between the both of them faded and Wilbur cannot be there as often during Roger’s times of need. The question here is, Wilbur is not fulfilling the standards of the definition of “friend” now, so are the both of them still friends or they should address one another as schoolmates? Think about it…