The "Best Friend" Label

This may sound weird to some, but I have been hurt by girls more than guys. Sure guys have broken my heart, or have mistreated me, but I can get over that. Girls, on the other hand, fight dirty. They stab you when you're least expecting it, they gossip and talk behind your back, they do sneaky and sly things to undercut you and then act all innocent and nice to your face.  I have been "dumped" numerous times by girls that have called me their "best friend" sometimes for no particular reason. Girls are plain old mean. They don't need a reason to not like you, or act cold towards you - they just do, because they're girls.

Because of this reason, I have been tremendously careful not to throw around the "best friend" label. For some girls, they worry about saying the "L" word too quickly with their boyfriend - for me, it's the "BF" word that I worry about.

Best friends, to me, are not a dime a dozen. And they shouldn't be. If you have 10 so-called "best friends" then you have a problem. A best friend, to me, is someone to has proven themselves worthy of your trust, your time, your secrets, your laughter and have stood the test of time. Sure, maybe you click with your roommate or some girl you met in class, but just because someone is fun to hang out with does not make them your best friend.

This is my theory: Girls are so quick to call just about every friend they have, their best friend. Soon you see pictures with multiple girls with the hashtag as #bestie or #bestfriendforever and it hurts to see the person who called you their best friend labeling about 15 other girls their best friend too. And my message to you is: Be careful, you have no idea who you may be affecting.

Since we girls were little, we have had the "BFF" label shoved down our throats. There are friendship bracelets, necklaces with a heart broken in half, one for each best friend, friendship rings, BFF tattoos, BFF stickers, even friendship rocks for crying out loud. As a little girl, if you didn't get one of these things from your so-called "Best Friend" and the other girl did, your heart was shattered. I remember countless times coming across a letter or having that girl say straight to my face, "You are not my best friend anymore, so-and-so is." It's so elementary school, but that hurt is real, and believe or not - it still happens into our adulthood, just in different ways.

Be careful who you call your best friend. And if you tell them they are, make sure that feeling is mutual, and mean what you say. If you have a best friend then stick by them through thick and thin. Stop calling every other girl your best friend too or it undermines the meaning of "best friend". And for the love of God ladies, can we please stop gossiping behind our friends' backs?! Can we just get over ourselves and treat our own kind with respect and dignity and kindness?? Guys do enough to break our hearts or shoot us down, girls shouldn't have to do that to other girls too.

Thank you for reading my rant. Have a nice day everyone.