So not too long ago I had an experience which caused me to think (this happens a lot). I was with a group of friends and we played one of those mind-teaser games; there are a number of them out there. Well, suffice it to say I was not one of the quickest at figuring the game out (I still think too much into things, but I'm working on it).
Anyway, after the game, I was explaining to the other people there why it took me so long. As most people know, one way to deal with embarrassment is to kind of rationalize it, explain it away as normal. However, there is another reason for sharing this same information, and it has to do with the difference between a friend and an acquaintance.
What makes an acquaintance a friend for you? There is something qualitatively different between how we feel about a friend as opposed to an acquaintance, but when and why does that difference occur? As one of the people kept saying, "It's okay, Peter," I kept thinking But that's not why I'm sharing this with you. So it kept bugging me, but I kept sharing it, hoping to get a different response, the desired response. It never came, which is why I started thinking about this.
For one, I kept wondering why the person was reacting the way they did, because that's not at all what I was going for. It's only after I realized how misconstruable (is that a word?) my actions were. After realizing this, I thought about the real reason for sharing what I did, what seemed to be my rationalization for acting embarrassingly. Also, what response was I looking for exactly, because all I knew is that it wasn't the one I got.
I realized that I was hoping for a similar response from those I was talking to, hoping that they would share their thought processes during the mind-teaser game. I also realized what, at least for me, is the difference between a friend and an acquaintance. I could know the birthday, major, career, where they grew up, went to college, whatever of someone and they could still be an acquaintance. What makes them a friend is when I know something of what makes them them. When I know something of how they think, what makes them tick, their passions/desires/hates/loves, something that gives me an insight into what makes them them; that's when they go from the acquaintance column to the friend column. Oh, and they have to know something about what makes me me as well.
