Friendships are very simple.

They are the bonds between people who enjoy one another's company.

But probe deeper and it's evident that there is no consensus about what it means.

While some people value it and seek it, there is also much confusion, hesitancy and disappointment about friends in many people's lives.

Friendship is one of those areas full of hidden assumptions and unspoken rules.

We only discover that our friendship doesn't mean what we think it does

when those assumptions clash.
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There is no agreement about what friendship involves, or what to do if it goes sour.

When things go wrong, we very rarely challenge our friends.

That's because friendship is often a delicate affair and we don't want to tax it with too many demands.

It's more common to absorb the hurt, and retreat. After all, there is no contract.

The terms are unwritten, and nobody ever makes them explicit.
Ask people about friendship and you'd find that they hold such a wide range of views.

Some think it demands total loyalty; others that it carries no obligations at all.

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But sadly, most people assume that most people think as they do.