Paid Friendships

As a member of the Greek community, I’ve never thought of my sisters as being paid for. Mostly what I pay for are the events we are allowed to go to, exclusively. But does that mean that I’m paying for my friends and the relationships?

While many people think that the above question could be answered with “yes,” I know it’s not true. I’m not paying extra money for better relationships with certain people. I’m not paying these people to stay in my life forever. They get no money out of it whatsoever.

In fact, I can amend that I pay to meet these people. I pay for the recruitment, which could be seen as speed dating but for a larger group of people. I will amend that I pay to interact at social events that would already cost me money, so really I’m just paying for things in advance.

I don’t believe that I’m paying for friendships. Those cannot be bought. A real relationship and friendship only form because both parties put in the effort to make them work. I may be wild and fun, but that’s only once you get to know me.

It takes a lot for me to actually meet people, maybe because of my abandonment issues or because of my trust issues, so this works really well for me. I pay for the experience because I take my money seriously and it’s the only way I know that I’ll actually go through with meeting people.

I’m not the type of person to make study groups for classes or talk to someone randomly as I wait in line at the grocery store or for coffee. I’m not the type of person to go out of my way to talk to someone I know.

Maybe it’s because I live in a world where the unknown is especially scary for women. Or because of the issues, I developed during childhood. That’s just who I am.

I’m not paying for my friendships because I joined a sorority. I have friends because I joined a sorority, I just paid to meet them.

 

• friends
• greek
• greek life
• relationships
• sorority