There are some people in my life whom I consider light weight friends. In the past, I had treated them better than I would acquaintances, and thus expected more of these people. But I’ve come to realise that by doing so, it makes them worse than acquaintances.

With acquaintances, you don’t expect much from them and because of that, they can’t possibly disappoint you. With friends however, you’d expect a certain level of behaviour and courtesy. So when these light weight friends inevitably fail to live up to your expectations, you feel disappointed and sometimes resentment.

These are friends who, although they are not malicious by nature, fail to deliver on their promises, who’d blow you off for something or someone else they think is more important, and who are flaky and blow hot and cold with you. Most importantly, they are not consistent.

And that’s my basic criteria for a good friend: consistency. I don’t want to have to figure out how to deal with you every time the situation changes. There are enough uncertainties in life that I don’t need more when it comes to friends. I choose to have stable friends in my circle and that I believe is good for my sanity.

So in conclusion, light weight friends, if you can still call them “friends”, should be treated no better than casual acquaintances whom you don’t expect much from. If you expect less from them, you’d get disappointed less and you’d definitely not get pissed off by their bad behaviour so much. Your time is precious, so those so-called friends who do not deserve it? Downgrade them to be hi-bye acquaintances instead. ;)