My Illusion, My Mistake

Once upon a time, I was very naive. I thought only real friends share their inner thoughts and feelings. In fact, once upon a time, I'd feel hurt if I shared my feelings but that act was not reciprocated. I guess over the years I realized that some people are just very private and don't like to share anything about themselves, and that doesn't mean they don't value the friendship... I guess? But I continued to believe that if someone is willing to share with me their thoughts and feelings, we have moved beyond acquaintance and became closer friends. My mistake was: I forgot to take into consideration the oversharing nature of Gen Y. Evidently, some people just like to share, just about anything to anyone who'd listen. In that case, his sharing with you is merely fulfilling his need to share and it means nothing more than that. As much as the stories are dramatic and entertaining, but when all the person does is to show up, went yak, yak, yak about his life, then tell you, "Oh, I got to run, I'm, like, soooo busy," you can't shake the feeling of being used. So, if you are in that situation, the sooner you are disillusioned, the better. It doesn't mean you should stop being "friends" with the said individual, especially if the stories he's telling are juicy. It just means you should adjust your expectation accordingly. That he or she might not be as much of a real friend as you might think.