I've been spoiled when it comes to friends. In high school, I happened upon several people who never failed to make me laugh or lend an ear when I needed it. There are countless memories and jokes between us. We're such good friends that even when we go months without really talking to one another, when we do get together it's like time hasn't passed at all.

I came to expect that the friendships I would make beyond high school would resemble the aforementioned, even though I figured it would be hard to rival the friends I already had. Now I'm thinking it's damn near impossible.

I messed up in college; I fell in with a group I never truly felt comfortable around but I thought it was better to surround myself with people I only partially liked than to be alone. Anything's better than being alone, right? I did find several good friends, but none of them are here today. One transferred to another university, one went to grad school in Europe, and I had a very long, dramatic falling out with the third. I knew once I graduated I would never keep in touch with most of the people I associated with in college. They were very religious and conservative. I couldn't open up about my relationship with my boyfriend or confess dirty little secrets over drinks; they preferred to stay in, bake cookies and watch Disney movies or romantic comedies. Most of them were waiting until marriage to have sex, and I obviously wasn't, so a lot of the time I felt like a whore. I don't know why I continued to hang out with them; it was probably because I felt that everyone had already formed their social groups in college and there was no way to penetrate them.

College is over. I've entered the Real World, which isn't as bad as everyone made it sound, except for the fact that I haven't made the kind of friends I thought I should have made at this point. For the most part, people are just so damn flaky. They don't answer their phone. Or text messages. Or they make plans and then cancel them. All. The. Time. I've been trying to make plans with a certain friend for over a month. Each time, something more important comes along and she promises that we'll get together, but we never do. How hard is it to designate two hours out of the week for someone you claim to be friends with? I get that we're all adults now and that we have obligations and responsibilities, but come on. I've tried my best to initiate plans even though I usually wait to be approached, and now I'm left feeling like some little kid in the sandbox with a dirty diaper that no one wants to play with. Speaking of kids, another friend of mine, who I'm actually pretty close to, has kids, and boy, does that get in the way. I know I'll never come before her kids and I don't expect to, but it just makes the friendship that much more difficult. And no, I'm not suggesting people stop having kids so that they can have the privilege of being my friend. I'm just lamenting over the freedom people had back in high school and college and how as I get older, it is inevitable that friendships wane as people take their own paths.

So I wonder if it's truly possible to have friends in the Real World. There are people to grab drinks with. There are allies at work and acquaintances at the gym. But are there friends? Real, one hundred per cent pure friends, who'd answer the phone at 3 a.m and knock back lo mein with you while you PMS? Or have I missed the boat completely?