I was lucky enough to see my little buddies this last Sunday.  They are aged eight and five.  As Art Linkletter used to show us, kids say the darndest things!  I had the following dialogue with the five-year-old:

[Me, trying to stir up conversation and encourage him . . .]
"Wow . . . you get to start kindergarden . . . that's great!  You'll get to make lots of friends"

    [Him, unimpressed]
     "I already have TEN friends!"

"Wow . . . really?"

     "One of them is six years old . . . and one is five years old . . . . actually
      there are TWO of them!"

"Oh . . . what are their names?  I'll bet I might know them!"

     "I don't know . . ."

"You don't know their names?"

     "No . . . I haven't seen them in a long time . . ."

"Oh . . . where did you meet them?"

     "In the park . . ."

------  Innocent, childish notions of who our friends are . . . To him, his friends are two little boys that he met at a park a long time ago, and didn't remember their names.

Well . . . I don't know if I can say that I understand much more than my little buddy about how to judge if someone is my friend.  But I do think that I can tell when I find out that they aren't . . .

Of course, the term 'friend' is thrown around MySpace like it means nothing . . . and so, on MySpace, it does mean nothing . . .

Still, I thought that I had made a new friend . . . and then, last night, I found out that she wasn't.  We had hung out a couple times and enjoyed each other's company.  (No romantic interest here at all . . . 'just' friends, and that was nice.)  Last night, we went to a concert together (I drove, thank goodness!).  A few songs into the show, she got a call from some other friends who were also there . . . She turned to me and said, "I'll be right back . . . I have to give 'em this [clutching something in her hand]" . . . and then . . . well . . . and then, she never came back!   Hmmmm . . .

We both had our cell phones, and she had already used them once to call me when she lost track of where I was sitting . . . I stayed in the same place for a couple hours, and then moved about ten feet in between acts . . . so if she had 'lost' her cell phone, she still would have been able to find me. 

Well . . . I was at a concert, and there was no use getting too bent out of shape . . . I just enjoyed the show! 

After the show was over, I had to do what I could to make sure that she was okay and had another ride home . . . So I called her . . . she didn't answer . . . I asked her to call me and at least let me know that she was okay . . . I said that I'd wait for a while . . .

About twenty minutes later, I called again . . . still she wouldn't answer . . . I said that I hated to do it, but since she decided to 'disappear' and not call me back, I had to assume that she'd made other arrangements.  (This was about five hours after she'd told me that she'd be 'right back' and after unanswered, unreturned phone calls.)

I started driving out of the parking lot . . . and what did I see?   I saw her walking along talking on her cell phone . . . I stopped and called out to her . . . she looked back at me and didn't even slow down, didn't wave, didn't even acknowledge . . . ???? 

--- When I told a 'real-life' friend of mine about this, his comment was simply, "Congratulations!  You found another wacko!"

I can't explain this extremely rude behavior.  I seriously doubt that SHE could explain this behavior.  I was 'ditched' . . . hmmmm . . . maybe I shouldn't really share this story!  ;-)

So does this mean that none of my 'MySpace friends' are true friends? . . . I don't think it means that at all.  I don't think we can judge if a 'friend' is a true friend or not in a short period of time  . . . But I think that they MIGHT BE a true friend in a very short period of time. 

In fact, I think that someone can even be a friend FOR a short period of time!  Or forever . . . or whatever length of time . . . We pass by and through each other's lives constantly . . . making our impressions.  Good or bad, deep or shallow . . . but we make our impressions.

So, are MySpace 'friends' really friends?  Sometimes . . . I've found some people on MySpace who are wonderful, caring people . . . making a good and deep impression on me.  Sometimes not . . . 'nuff said about that . . .

Maybe I need to learn something from my little buddy . . .

So . . .

I have two friends . . . I don't remember their names . . . I met them at a park, a long time ago!