I used to feel that until I started meeting people who were just as interested in skipping the small talk, but far and very few between as of late…

I don’t have the energy to perform enforced social maintenance when the group doesn’t understand that I’m not paralysed in bed as a caprice, I’m paralysed in bed because the weight of the world is on my mind again. And then I’m the bad guy when I’m genuinely incapable of even mimicking a smile and I’m “bringing everyone down.” Yes. I know. I told you this outright, yet you insisted. Who is to blame, the radioactive metal, or the person who doesn’t heed the Geiger screech?

Plus, honestly, actual friends will still be there for you even if you disappear for years on end. I started moving back to my old city after a failed year-and-a-half experiment and people have already started reaching out - people with whom I haven’t spoken in years, people with whom I used to drink the night away, sharing worries and traumas. I was deeply surprised by and grateful for this, all the more so because we went right back to chatting about serious life stuff.