The Deadliness of Faux Friendships

     

 

     I recall being a young girl and my mother warning me about certain people I had befriended at the time.  It occurred again with my father and Papa waring me as a young adult.  I admit that I didn't fully understand their warnings at the time...but I did take heed.  Thank goodness.  As an adult, I have watched people that have "befriended" people just to set them up and/or destroy them from within.  Most recently, we have all been presented with the MURDER of Ms. Shanquella Robinson by her friend group while on vacation.  

    For the people that are so shocked that this could occur must NOT be on social media.  Have you NOT watched as friend groups online have eaten their own for clicks, likes, followers, and clout? They will use every bit of private information to take one another down.  it was their plan all along.  To NEVER be a friend or a part of a support system, but to pump one another for information and/or to get close to a larger creator for monetization and popularity. 😏

     Deadly faux friends are REAL.  We have ALL been told that coworkers are NOT our friends.  We have ALL been warned of stranger danger.  Yet there are far too many of us that will meet someone and let down our guards too quickly due to ONE mutual interest.  Too many people are far too quick to call someone their "bestie" after a conversation or two.  We must keep in mind that in this digital age....there are people that are watching everything that they can to APPEAR relatable to us just to "single white female" themselves into what they THINK our lives are.  Re-read that and let it sink in.  

     Think that I am reaching? Slow things down with your friends.  Apply the same dating tips that you have been given regarding romantic relationships.  Set boundaries.  Now sit back and watch them devolve.  Watch how they expect blind loyalty.  Watch how you are questioned for every breath.  Watch how quickly you become "annoying".  

     Then watch how quickly things you told in confidence become the latest viral moment.

     The nature of most friendships right now is for one party to be blindly loyal while the other party is sternly protective of their image.  Gone are the days of talking to a friend.  Ushered in are the days of talking about them and then cutting them off because the person you talked about them told you that they were talking about you.  

    Gone are the days of friendships just ending.  We are in the times of DESTROYING the former friend until their mental health is moot.  Lives are being taken because people are forming relationships based off of a "come up" and a perception rather than a true kindred.  

    YES...I KNOW that there are exceptions to every rule.  Save that rhetoric for another conversation regarding the complexities of relationships, this conversation is about the toxicity that resides and can lead to the loss of life or productive mental health.  We can NO longer continue to avoid the topic.  This is NOT a pray-it-away moment.  NO ONE should be forced to mourn, bury, investigate, etc the death of a loved one because they chose to hang out with people that they believed were friends.  

     I also need you to recognize and understand that this toxicity causes a vicious cycle of people being trapped into a variant of faux friendships.  The vultures do circle as one is being dragged through anguish and one often latches onto the next villain in their story (unknowingly). 

     Let Shanquilla's story be the catalyst that gets us all to be more diligent in our interpersonal relationships.  Let us honor her in that manner as we ensure that she receives justice.