Do you have a "best mate"? or just a group of good friends?

[Krypton]

I've know my best mate for over 30 years. We don't see each other as often as we used to due to work / family / location etc. but still keep in touch and I still consider him my best mate. I have other friends who I socialise with regularly and whom I've know for many, many years, but I'm not as close to any of them as I am to my best mate.

Other people I know don't seem to have a "best" mate, rather a group of equally close friends. I just wondered if everyone has a best mate, or is it just some of us?

PS. Excludes your "other half" ...

 

[ianrauk]

I do have a 'best mate'. not only best mate, he's my oldest mate having known him since we were 13yo. And like you we don't keep in touch as much as we should also due to location, him being in Cheshire, me in London. But I do know that if I ever needed him then he would be there for me and vice verse. When ever we get to have a natter over the tellingbone it's usually lasts a good couple of hours putting the world to rights.

 

[numbnuts]

I haven’t any so call mates and friends are few and far between, I’m better by myself

 

[summerdays]

I don't think I have a best mate and I'm envious of those that do, possibly because effectively Mr Summerdays is mine. I have a number of close friends though, but we seem to find it hard to see each other regularly.

 

[upsidedown]

Just me the mrs and junior, don't have much time for anybody else.

 

[Globalti]

I seldom see them but I'm intensely loyal to my old climbing pals from college; there's nothing like shared experiences and holding someone's life on a climbing rope to create a bond. More recently (last 22 years) I have met up almost every week for a pint and a natter with my climbing buddy, with whom I have done some big walks and climbing holidays.

My current cycling pal is a "casual" family friend who I met through having sons at the same school. He and his family have their own wide circle of friends as do we, but we occasionally get together off the bikes for a laugh and a few drinks.

I have colleagues who seem to have dozens and dozens of friends or acquaintances though.

 

[dellzeqq]

I see my best and oldest friend frequently - in fact she's my most frequent friend, if you see what I mean.

I suspect I'm one of many people whose friends fall in to groups that don't overlap. There's my work friends, people that I've kept in touch with for anything up to six or seven years. There's my cycling friends (who tend to be in one of three distinct groups). And there's my old friends who I've known for anything up to 40 years. My best friend is unusual in that she meets my cycling friends, but she's pretty much unique in that sense.

 

[Fnaar]

Apart from Mrs F, the person I get on best with (and therefore my best mate) is also one of my brothers.

 

[alecstilleyedye]

i think there may be a difference between the sexes here.

mrs alec gets edgy if she hasn't heard from so and so (well ring them then) whereas i can not see a male friend for years and then just pick up as if we'd never been apart.

she recently moaned about one of my friends only ringing when he wanted something, but i think men only ring to say/ask something, whereas women ring 'for a chat' which plays more of a role in the friendship than it does for men.

i may, of course, be talking bollocks…

 

[Fnaar]

Mrs F often asks me why I don't phone friends/brother for a chat. My answer is always "why would I want to do that?"

 

[Bird Brain]

I have a (friend) at work and one time we were quite close but not so much now.Probably a lot of this is my fault but I have worked with him for twenty years,we fell out recently and I don't think it's the same now.As I say the fault is on my side again.

 

[taxing]

My best mate is an old school friend. We're part of a wider group of 'best friends' (only 5 of us in total) who all met at school and have been really close for 12 years.

My best mate has gone to live in Hong Kong for a year. I really miss her. We send long Facebook messages usually about once a week, and Skype when we can, but because of the time difference life often gets in the way. We've gone months without seeing each other before (we went to different unis) and it doesn't change the friendship at all because we know each other like the back of our own hands, but we do prefer to check in regularly and tell each other all of the funny and crappy stuff that has happened lately. After a chat all of the crappy stuff becomes funny anyway, we could probably turn a funeral into a right laugh.

 

[dellzeqq]

i think there may be a difference between the sexes here.

mrs alec gets edgy if she hasn't heard from so and so (well ring them then) whereas i can not see a male friend for years and then just pick up as if we'd never been apart.

she recently moaned about one of my friends only ringing when he wanted something, but i think men only ring to say/ask something, whereas women ring 'for a chat' which plays more of a role in the friendship than it does for men.

i may, of course, be talking bollocks…

you might be, Mr. Alec. Then again, it's just struck me that maybe most best friends are the same gender that you are (prize for crap sentence to be forwarded to Villa del Zeqq). Most of my best friends outside of the FNRttC are women. So I might be the one talking bollocks...

 

[Ravenbait]

Yes, I have a best friend. Used to have three people I considered closer than blood family. One of them died (sadly far too young, from illness), another sort of drifted away after that but the other is still my closest friend in the whole world aside from my partner and knows me better than anyone other than aforesaid partner.

And I really don't like going without speaking to her for very long, although she lives in Ireland so we only rarely get to see each other. Thank goodness for the internet.

Sam

 

[Sittingduck]

No best mate - just a bunch of good friends. Luckily, virtually all of the Uni group of friends are now living in the SW quarter of my town. Still don't see everybody as much as we used to though, half of them are now married with kids etc. Seems like the main time we all get together these days is for Christenings! And it's about time the girls started popping out boys too - all girls so far!