Friendship Hierarchy

There exists a friendship hierarchy that is used by most women, however, few men know about this hierarchy. For men you are either friends or you aren't, there is no in between or classifications. For women there are multiple classifications based on the attitudes, personality and talents of the person. I like to compare it to the cereal aisle at the grocery store; the ones that are really good for you and are the most valuable sit on the top, the ones that are all sugar, fluff and puff that will probably make you sick are on the bottom.

So the top tier has your close friends, the ones who listen to you talk about your problems...I mean really listen. These are the people who know something is wrong even before you get out of the car but if you don't want to talk about it they don't push you. They try to know you inside and out and the advice they give is appropriate; however, they don't get upset when you don't take their advice, they just help pick up the pieces. These are the friends that you can't live without, they complete you as a person and hopefully make you a better person. If something is wrong you know without a doubt you can count on these people.

The middle is the people you enjoy being with. These people can be co-workers, neighbors, family...anyone you enjoy hanging out with. You don't necessarily tell them everything, especially nothing personal. These are people you trust, but as with anyone there is a boundary. You know enough about each other to talk for hours, you might know their family and other circle of friends. You can count on them in a crisis but they aren't your first choice. They make you laugh and generally you are happy when you are with them.

The bottom is the people who will make you sick. These are the people who lie about you, make you think you are crazy. They are your 'friends' mostly because you need to maintain some type of relationship with them; maybe a work-relationship or maybe a family-relationship. They really don't contribute to your life at all except to make you stressed out and to start unnecessary drama. These people can make you feel gullible and naive

I guess there may be a fourth tier which is the friends you thought you had and then you found out were someone completely different. These are the people who showed you one face while hiding the other; finding the other face can be painful but is worth it in the long run. Keeping your distance from these people will be beneficial since they will only try to hurt you. Of course the good thing about these friends is that when everything falls apart you have learned a valuable lesson about yourself and people in general. Oddly enough these are the people who accuse you of never opening up and making yourself vulnerable to others.

That is the hierarchy or friendship according to me but I think most women use some type of hierarchy.