My Criteria for Making Friends
Although friends are not our relatives or don't live with us in our homes, don't share material things with us but they do play a major role in our lives. Friendship is a companionship where two people, mostly going through similar conditions in life or having something in common share a bond of closeness, warmth and support. It is an undeniable fact that the influence of friends is huge on our thoughts, point of views and personality overall. Hence we are always asked to stay cautious while making friends or getting close to people as at times we might seem to have a very unique click with a person and the person might be having similar views or common situations in life but other factors should be kept in mind while being emotionally attached to someone. People would judge me when I'll write here that friends should always be made according to financial status and social background. People might criticise me on the viewpoint that elite class should be friends with elites, middles class with similar ones and lower class with lower ones. I am not against equal treatment and am totally against any sort of discrimination in keeping friendly ties and terms with people or in any other field or aspect, but when it comes to spending time and sharing views, interests and liberties, two people (if they belong to the status of sharp differences) they would have judgments about others which might not necessarily be true, their interests would be different and when a person from elite class would discuss his/her international family trips and tours, the favourite continental cuisine, favourite brands of dresses and apparels, the other person might indulge in an inferiority complex and may start getting envious for not having all those things in life. This complex would make the other person thankless for the blessings he/she has got in life and would automatically start comparing his/her life with their elite friends...ending up complaining about things unavailable for them and going in mental restlessness and depression. On the other hand, the friend from the elite class might have to filter out some views or experiences just so that the other person does not feel low or underprivileged. This would, in turn, make them feel restricted in sharing views and experiences which eventually becomes the reason behind barriers in communication. Thus, I am of a strong opinion that friends should be made in a similar social or status circle so that both people can understand each other without feeling low or lesser than the other person. On the other hand, I won't deny the fact that social exposure helps a person in knowing the social culture and human psyche deeply and closely. The age gap is also the factor that creates misunderstandings as having very elder friends or very junior ones as friends might make things vague and complicated as both people have different mental level and knowledge.