Did you ever have a friend when you were in high school that your parents weren’t very fond of, but you had no idea what their problem was? Maybe they even went so far as to say you weren’t allowed to hang out with that particular friend, and maybe you can see now why they did it. It was their job to protect you, and see the red flags that you were too young and silly to understand. They could spot a bad influence a mile away, but those types of people don’t only exist in the form of high school rebels that smoke cigarettes and skip class. People like that are everywhere, only now it’s your job to protect yourself from them.
- Your other friends don’t like her. No one else is really as close with her as you are, but is that because they haven’t have a chance to get to know her, or they just don’t like what they’ve seen? When everyone seems to be in agreement of their mutual dislike for someone, that’s a red flag.
- You tend to drink too much when you go out with her. Think back to your last black-out drunk experience. Or the last time you drank so much you threw up. She was there, right? We all go a little too far once in awhile, but if it happens every time you’re out with her, what’s the common denominator there?
- She alienates you from your other friends. Since none of them want to hang out with her, you end up having to split your time between her and the rest of your friends. She might even pressure you to ditch them and make your entire social life to revolve around her.
- You do things you normally wouldn’t do when you’re with her. Before you met her you never would have charged a pair of shoes you couldn’t afford to your credit card. She’s given you a hard time for being “too cheap” before, so now you’re trying to prove her wrong at the expense of your credit limit.
- She eggs you on. It’s always a lot easier to do things you shouldn’t be doing when you have a partner in crime. While waking up in a jail cell next to her is better than waking up alone, you’re still in jail, and that’s never ideal.
- She doesn’t care about her job. If she doesn’t care if she’s so hungover that she shows up late to work on random Tuesdays, that could start to rub off on you. If she doesn’t make her career a top priority, she isn’t going to understand when you have to sacrifice certain social outings because of work.
- She’s a gossip. She’s always the one with the juiciest inside scoop, and while that may be entertaining when you’re on her good side, what makes you think she doesn’t also talk about you when you’re not around?
- She wants to keep you all to herself. You met a great guy that you really like, but she’ll bad mouth him and try to turn you against him because she wants you single and able to spend all your time with her.
- She’s always really negative. She’s the friend you want around when you want to bash your ex or complain about your work frenemy, but she’s no good when it comes to giving advice. She tends to focus on the cons of everything, and that can get draining.
- She doesn’t really get you. She laughs at your taste in guys, she doesn’t understand your career aspirations, and she’s always trying to subtly adjust your fashion sense. Instead of accepting you for who you are, she tries to change you. A good friend should be there for you, and supportive of your dreams, so if she doesn’t do that, she’s never going to be worth your time.
