I was overcomplicating things. The answer is much simpler: friendships are the result of a shared stressor, and they last as long as the stressor lasts. Yesterday I was standing in line to the US embassy, it was moving kinda slow with lots of delays. So I just started talking to the people next to me, and soon the whole queue was chatting with each other. Then we all in turn got our visa interviews and left the embassy without saying a word to each other. A microcosm of school friendships. That’s probably also why many couples break up when children leave the home.
I was overcomplicating things. The answer is much simpler: friendships are the result of a shared stressor, and they last as long as the stressor lasts. Yesterday I was standing in line to the US embassy, it was moving kinda slow with lots of delays. So I just started talking to the people next to me, and soon the whole queue was chatting with each other. Then we all in turn got our visa interviews and left the embassy without saying a word to each other. A microcosm of school friendships. That’s probably also why many couples break up when children leave the home.