Who are you!?

[Sazaranthran]

Have you ever looked at a long term friend or a childhood friend who you fell out of contact with who you met up with and just thought: "What the hell happened to you, you are not the person I want to be friends with,"

I have a long-term friend who I've known for around five years, who was a rather nerdy really cool guy for the most part for the first few years. But then he started smoking, oh well, not a big deal, it's a lifestyle choice; then he started smoking maijuana, again, lifestyle choice. But now the drugs have changed him and he's a completely different person obsessed with marijuana. I just can't find myself to respect the person, which means I don't enjoy his company as much as I could, since I don't like people I can't respect.

So, have any of you ever experienced something like this, a drastic change in a person?

 

[Frequen-Z]

Oh my yes. A guy I was friends with since pre-school went to a different secondary school to me, and we lost contact, fast forwward 6 years to college and he's an entirely different person, fitted all the emo kid stereotypes that I'd learned to abhor.

Never spoke to him, I'm sure we recognised each other though.

 

[the_pleasure_is_mine]

Oh yeah... two people recently.

Both because of drugs.

They're not worth my time anymore.

 

[Cherry Cola]

Who, who, who, who,?

[sub]Sorry[/sub]

OT: Had a friend about 4-5 years ago, we were pretty good friends. Then he moved away and we lost contact for a long while.

Couple of months ago he finds me on Facebook and we start talking again. I don't know if he's changed or my standards have changed, but I can't stand the guy anymore.

I mostly just ignore him if he ever sends me a message.

 

[Delock]

While personality-wise, I've stayed the same, I grew a beard when I went off to college.

My friends did not recognize me.

Other than that, I've had old bullies finally mature into people I came to call friends, so I've experienced the better side of this.

*Edit*

Bah, just remembered one of my old friends. This guy lost his mind after he graduated and developed an obsession with another friend which ended with me having to lose a night of sleep to control the fallout, mediate the ensuing conversation, and act as therapist for both sides, until he was convinced to see a professional. Anyways, he is back online now, and acts like a completely different person now. He's hardly what I would call a friend now, since he's taken up two different personalities when online (one he uses when he has a bad day, and the other which is pretty much his idealized version of himself). I'm not judging the seperation of thought processes, but that neither of them are who he was.

 

[Kortney]

The boy I grew up with is completely different now. Sometimes I ask some of his friends how he is doing and apparently he is fucked up on drugs. It makes me cry.

 

[Sazaranthran]

Weirdly enough, I knew someone when I was really young, went to primary school with them for a while, then moved away. They ended up going to the same college and were very similar. I wouldn't be surprised if he was on this very forum...weird how things work out.

Drugs ruin people. Not invariably, drugs can be fun, but never make a habit of it, it will change you, for the worse.

 

[Johnnyallstar]

Actually, the reverse happened to me, but there was no drought in seeing the guy. My longest, and best friend turned to me about a year ago and said "you know what, you were a real asshole as a kid. You're a lot better now."

Some changes are positive ^_^

 

[Jack_Uzi]

The opposite happened to me. In high school I sometimes had to stick up with a friend of a friend of mine. I really didn't like him (come to think of it, maybe because we are/were too much alike). Seven years later, and very accidentally, I came back in to contact with him and have been very close friends till now. Later on I told him I found him an a-hole, he never thought the same but it still makes us laugh.

 

[IzisviAziria]

Yep. I was fairly popular in high school, had a large group of friends that I would hang out with on a regular basis. I'm now 20, two years out of high school, a year and a half of full time job and living on my own under my belt, my first term of college out of the way and the rest to come..

And looking back, I can now only consider two of the people I went to high school with real friends. Two. I've seen the others, I've hung out with them, I've shared drinks with them.. And I can't tell if it's them not maturing, or me changing, or my standards changing, or them changing for the worst or what. But I simply don't LIKE most of them anymore. As I become more an adult, I find myself valuing my time more and I simply don't care to spend it with people I either don't respect, or just flat don't like.

This might make me a bit of an ass though, or a complete ass hat. *shrug*

 

[CarpathianMuffin]

My old best friend, actually.
I still like her well enough and we get along as well as ever, but I can't help but feel that she's lied to me about the past few months of her life.
So that's made me somewhat disillusioned.

 

[interspark]

I have a long-term friend who I've known for around five years, who was a rather nerdy really cool guy

thats a coincedence! i have a friend who's a really tall midget! lol, im kidding, nerds can be cool

 

[Segadroid]

I had a friend in the last year of primary school who changed from a longhaired adorable girl into a bald neo-nazi in 2 years.

 

[Sazaranthran]

I have a long-term friend who I've known for around five years, who was a rather nerdy really cool guy

thats a coincedence! i have a friend who's a really tall midget! lol, im kidding, nerds can be cool

Dude...you're on a gaming forum. You're a nerd. Don't fight it.

 

[VincentX3]

Actually no.
I lost contact with a few friends for almost 4-5 years, we re-met and their still the same old good buddies that I knew.

I guess I'm lucky.

 

[Vrach]

Yep. Remember the exact words of the moment as well - "I don't see the point of going out/to a party if I'm not going to get shitfaced".

 

[Tharwen]

There was a girl who I hadn't seen for about 5 years (since before this nasty 'teenage' thing), and when I finally did, it took about 10 minutes for me to realise who she was. She just looks really different.
[sub][sub][sub][sub]And much better.[/sub][/sub][/sub][/sub]

 

[PPB]

It actually happened with my two best friends from school.

The first one just changed a lot during secondary school, possibly because he hanged out with people I didn't like at all. No drugs as far as I know, but hanging out with strange folks can do damage on its own. By the time we headed out to University, we no longer had anything in common and drifted apart. I've seen him a few time on campus (went to the same place, but in different programs) and I was actually hoping university would have changed him back to his old self but it wasn't the case.

The second one is weirder. During one summer (in 2002 I think) we didn't see each others a lot because he was taking some music classes and went to a camp as a monitor. When school started next September, it felt as if he was a totally different person. It's hard to explain, I guess our personalities and motivations just grew in completely opposite directions during these few months. By the next year, we were like strangers to each others. This one kind of makes me sad because he really was my best friend for a long while and our friendship ended so abruptly. Oh well.

 

[titaniumChampion]

I cut out off all contact with each person I was associated with. Deleted and blocked every person on my contact list, changed my phone number, and moved away. I try to keep a more guarded lifestyle now. I socialize with people at work, but avoid parties and things of that nature.

So maybe it would be everyone else I was friends with that would see me as the one who radically changed, but I just keep to myself.