I've had many, many close, intimate (It's entirely possible to have intimate relationships with other men/people you aren't romantically involved with), and mea

I've had many, many close, intimate (It's entirely possible to have intimate relationships with other men/people you aren't romantically involved with), and meaningful friendships (and frenemyships), over the last 43 years. Long story, but I'm a member of an organization, where we have a Common Purpose, and regularly work together. Many of these relationships have been somewhat "transient," where we were very close, for a time, and have drifted apart. No animus, we just went different paths. I always enjoy running into them, later, and take pleasure in their success (or sadness, in their not-success). I'd say that most of my current close circle have been there for around 25 years. I'm quite grateful for it. I know that there's a huge problem, with folks (especially men), my age, becoming quite isolated, and, in my opinion, it is quite unhealthy; both mentally, and physically. To have a friend, I must be a friend. It's been very important for me to be as open-minded, honest, and accepting, as I want others to be, for me. I have also had a number of fairly close friendships, that began as antagonistic relationships. I've learned not to burn bridges. One of the behaviors that I see here (and elsewhere, in teh Internets Tubes), is folks that begin relationships with attacks. We've never ever had any interaction with someone, and our very first contact, ever, is an attack. It seems to be a sign of the times. I suspect that remote communication makes that easier. It's a lot easier to attack someone, if you are not within right hook range. Also, I think that limited interaction makes it easy to think of others as one-dimensional "caricatures," and we can ignore the aspects that we may find in common, or attractive. I think that it is also easy to project false narratives and motives onto people on the other end of an electronic medium. It's been my experience that every single person that I've ever met, has a life story, and, often, that story has a great many places that intersect or run parallel to my own. I have also been surprised, at finding that I have great admiration for some folks, once I learn more about them, and that helps to mitigate the places we disagree. The problem is, though, I also see this antagonistic behavior translated IRL, and, in some venues (like this one, where a lot of extremely influential folks hang out casually), it can result in real personal damage.