Real friends are timeless treasures

Doing what I do in this part of the world makes it really easy to meet people.

Being on the radio and writing for the most popular newspaper in such a small country means that most places I go to, people already know who I am before I've walked in the door.

There's no doubt it's flattering but it can often be disconcerting too - especially when people come up to you and already think they know everything there is to know about you when you've never even seen them before.

I love people so it's great to meet lots of them and I can always find an easy, genuine smile for new acquaintances but I'm always left a little uncomfortable when people seem to want to be friends just because they've heard my name and voice on the radio.

For all they know, I could have a secret room in my house where I've been slowly sewing together bits of human skin, collected from unsuspecting strangers, to make myself a new skirt. I don't, by the way, but you get my point.

At the end of the day I'm just a girl doing a job to pay the bills. The fact that it's on the radio is more to do with the fact that in my youth I wasn't interested in spending an extra three or four years studying to get qualified for a real job. Luckily, the good Lord saw fit to gift me with a voice that people enjoy listening to and, as much as I'd like to, it's not something I can take the credit for.

As for my writing, I'm pretty sure we're all in agreement I'm never going to be a Pulitzer Prize winner but I'm opinionated and believe that the world (or at least Bahrain) is entitled to my opinion so when my first job wasn't quite meeting the demands of my bills and the chance came along to write - something I've always had an interest in - I jumped at it.

So here I am, blessed with two jobs I love, that just happen to be in the public eye (so-to-speak). And no matter how many times people bandy the word about, I'm not - I repeat, NOT - a celebrity! This is Bahrain not Hollywood, I'm a voice on the radio, not a face on the silver screen.

But I digress, this is meant to be an article about how to recognise when you've met a true friend instead of a fair-weather acquaintance.

Meeting people and making friends is a reasonably easy thing to do (unless you're painfully shy) but weeding through all the people you meet to find real friends is more of a challenge.

You go out and meet people, have a good time together, swap numbers and then meet up again for another night of fun, but it's not until you meet up with them in the cold light of day that you can really be sure if you're destined to be good friends or whether they're just another addition to the fun crowd list.

Real friends are the ones that are there for you when the drink isn't flowing and the music has died. They're the ones that you can call to keep you company when you have to go to the doctor or run boring errands. They stay in and watch a film with you when you're not in the mood to go out and give you a shoulder to cry on when your world is falling down around your ears. A real friend will tell you that your breath stinks and that "yes, your bum really does look big in that" - and from a real friend you'll accept it in the spirit in which she/he means it.

If the person you were partying with for the last couple of nights, isn't prepared to get out of bed to come and pick you up when your car breaks down or go to the chemist to pick up some medicine because you're too ill to go yourself then you can be sure they're not going to be the kind of person you'll keep in touch with when you're bored of doing the rounds of the clubs and bars ... but that doesn't mean you can't still go out and have a good time together.

Just remember, when the chips are down, you won't be able to rely on them so while you're out having a good time don't forget to include those rare few that truly do belong in your inner circle.