Friends

There are quite a number of YouTube videos where young people in their twenties explain that they do not have a single friend. Of course the penchant to chronicle everything on video is a phenomenon of this era, but I think what is relevant here is how the pandemic and the breakdown of social networks that are not virtual in nature, have contributed to this reality.

While it has always been true that young adulthood is a difficult period of change where we begin to outgrow high school insecurities, this particular scenario is very unique. We are remaking society and these anomalies will happen with these young people possibly feeling long term effects from not forming strong bonds with at least one or two people during this life phase.

Friendship is a fickle thing with most of us fortunate to have true close connections we can count on one hand. The rest will be to varying degrees acquaintances with some being very much transactional in nature.