I'm surprised no one in this thread has mentioned decades of cultural conditioning to fear "Stranger Danger". That makes us both less likely to approach others

I'm surprised no one in this thread has mentioned decades of cultural conditioning to fear "Stranger Danger". That makes us both less likely to approach others and more likely to perceive others as creepy or dangerous if they approach us (and vice-versa, of course). Friends mostly come from acquaintance pools. When we were kids, we were forced into a casual recurring social situation surrounded by acquaintances that we saw every day at school. Some of those became our friends for the long evenings and summer vacations of just hanging out. They were the ones that we could relax and be ourselves with. But as adults, the only regular acquaintances that we have are our coworkers. If we ever even have time to hang out then we have to maintain our work personas, which is stressful and feels like work even when talking shop is forbidden. The relaxing, hang out and be yourself friendships are less likely to form. Unlike our childhood, we have no one forcing us into a regular ongoing situation with acquaintances. We have to come up with some kind of pretext (hobby or whatever), approach a bunch of strangers (something that we're culturally conditioned against), and set up that ongoing regular time together ourselves. And unlike school, we can't do it during work hours so there is far less time for it, as others have mentioned. There are some third places left, like churches and bars, that provide a ready context for acquaintances. But if you're not into whatever their focus is, religion, drinking, sports, or whatever, they don't really seem appropriate.