beedubaya

Thanks for that advice. I do feel a big part of the problem is where I live. I am smart, and I have intellectual and academic interests. I live in the poorest, most uneducated area in the entire United States. I go to a local commuter school that is pretty much a place for those who are either too ignorant to get into a good college or too poor to. Nobody who I would fit in well with would go to a school like mine.

My parents are extremely poor also, so going way off to school wasn't an option at the time, since I was 18 and they were totally against taking out loans. I wish I would have been more educated on the subject so I could have made my case that going way off was necessary.

That summer job elsewhere option sounds interesting. I'll look into that and it will also be a way to see if the problem really is the area that I live in.

As far as being a good friend for others, thats what I always do, but people don't like it. I generally have a problem with being "too" loyal to my friends, which maybe makes them uncomfortable and they end the friendship. I'm not sure what causes this or what people want in a friend. It seems like most people, especially guys, don't want a true, caring friend. They want drinking buddies or sports buddies or whatever.

I also am very awkward and am not comfortable in the areas that are typical of most male friendships, such as pseudo-fighting, or pseudo-sexual activities. When those things come up, I just don't know what to do, and people think I have something wrong with me.