It seems to me that the contemporary take on friendship is that it is something to be had like a possession. It takes its place along with the home, the car and all the other items coveted. Friendship by this account could be measured by the quantity of telephone numbers stored in a mobile phone. There are people who virtually collect friends so they can enhance their own importance in the eyes of others. They probably use expressions like ‘a good friend of mine’. I hate that.

Of course if you examined those relationships they would show to being hollow. If you asked those individuals to state half a dozen salient aspects about their so called friends - their life-defining moments, their fears and aspirations etc. - they would struggle. Though this may not be friendship of any quality it’s maybe as good as it gets for most.