I was feeling lousy burning my Friday night away in an almost empty office. It doesn’t help that my office is situated near Singapore’s hip and happening spots like Boat Quay, Mohamed Sultan, Clarke Quay and Zouk (anywhere is near with cab =p)! While I was indulging in self-pity, ZS suddenly called. We chatted for awhile and he invited me to join him and his friends for a drink at Zouk Winebar.

Initially, I was a bit apprehensive about the idea of joining him. But after some thoughts and consultation from my friend, and of course a hectic week of training and late nights at work, I succumbed to the temptation. It’s a Friday night so what the heck! I should let my hair down once awhile right?

I joined a group of his “friends” at Velvet. Soon, I realized the group of friends (except for one) is actually acquaintances he got to know there! When he came back with the special concoction that he ordered for me, he prompted me to socialize and “network” around.

Erm..network? With them; with people whom you just got to “pickup” or gotten “picked up” by from clubs? No way! Although I’m usually rated as friendly among my friends, I still have some reserves about making friends with just anybody. I guess as I grow older, I am less trusting of people from the streets. I think this is the results of lessons learnt from the grannies on the streets who seem to lost their purse everyday, the “dumb and deaf” guys pedaling soft toys on the streets who seem to be from the same syndicate (and time and time again I have unwittingly "donated" to them). And of course, I have reaceived repeated warnings from my beloved friends that I should stop being too friendly and trusting of people.

I wonder what has happened to the friend who was once more discerning in the friends he makes. In fact, he was also one of my friends who taught me not to be too trusting of people! Now, he has become a social butterfly “fluttering” around restlessly - I don’t really get to talk to him for more than 10 minutes at any point in time that night! In the end, it was his friend that kept me entertained. I know there is a difference between "networking" and "making friends". But, to me, I still wouldn't network for the sake of networking. Call me "Anti-social" or "narrow-minded", but I will still be more discerning in the selection of my friends. Probably, I can be more forgiving in making acquaintances, but what is the point?