Friend... Or Not?

A funny thing happened to me today. I was walking with a friend and he met an old friend of his. I stepped aside a bit so they could have their moment. After about five minutes of talking, the old friend of my friend turned to walk away, and I finally caught a full glimpse of him.

I realized he was someone I knew. We've had each other's numbers since senior high school, meaning close to six years. We check up on each other and talk at length. We're even in the same University, so we chat about school life. Just about a week ago, we even texted about a riddle he posted.

Anyway, since he was someone I knew, I decided to simply call him and wave. I did, and he didn't recognize me. He had to approach me and squint at first. The moment the recognition hit, he smiled broadly and snapped his fingers, trying to say my name.

I was shocked when nothing came out of his mouth. Usually in situations like this, I could've been helpful by providing my name. But I didn't. I rather waited and waited for him to remember. He never did.

My initial reaction was pure, undiluted surprise. Almost six years of online friendship. From Instagram to snapchat to facebook to WhatsApp. How could he not know my name? How has he saved my number then?

Pondering over it later, I can't decide whether to find this funny or sad. It's funny but it's just... not. Maybe, maybe this shouldn't be a big deal. After all, it's just online friendship.

But really? Online friendships matter too, at least to me.

The fact that I considered him a friend and knew his name but he didn't know mine is hitting me so strongly. It's like life's trying to teach me something; "Always know where you stand with people."

I can't tell if he genuinely forgot or if he simply didn't care about out online friendship enough to consider me relevant at all. Curious though; do online friendships matter to you or not? Why? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!

Images are mine.