Do you consider yourself my friend?

If your ever in my neck of the woods Kent you would always receive a warm welcome for Kiki, yourself and Cronus. My dog Fudge is always happy to show another dog how lazy a dog can actually be and still get fed to the maximum!

Not sure how exciting you would find our small village but I'm sure we could while away the hours on a cruise round the broads and the local hostelries we encounter.

Yes, I'd consider a fair few iQers to be friends, and one or two would be good friends. There is a certain bizarreness in that I haven't met some of these people, and certainly my wife would raise an eyebrow if I said that I had genuine friends on here, but it is true. Maybe different from 'real world' friends, but friends none-the-less.

As to inviting another iQer into my house, I'm not sure. No matter how well I think I know people on here, I need to size someone up in the real world before I feel I can trust them enough to invite them into my home - but that is perhaps me being more protective of my wife and daughter and just reserving a degree of doubt about people. I wouldn't feel comfortable staying with most other iQers either for the same reason - behind the reasonable exterior, I could be a 'Dexter'-style mass murderer!

But yes, you are a friend, Kent. I know that because I worry about you off the site - you were not around for a few days, and I noticed. And I worried about Kiki when you said she was not in the best help. I still find it strange that I am connected with people in this way, but I guess that people affect you in ways that you don't expect.

You are probably one of the most trusting people I have met on-line, and I admire you for that (and hope that you never get stung by being so trusting). But I am not sure that I can be so trusting until I have met peolpe face-to-face.

I'm not so sure about the coming to stay part, Mika would go bananas for a start! (not sure how Mr Boo would feel either!)
Though if you ever make it to London i would be more than happy to meet you, the lovely Kiki and Cronus and take you on a tour of london (though there would be a lot of pubs involed!!)

I think that unless you have had a physical meeting then it's hard to tell whether anyone can be considered a friend (in the true sense of the word).

Internet contact or even pen friends have only a mental image, although this can easily be very positive of the other person.

I find in life that I have friends and associates. I have quite a lot of both but I suspect it's because my job involves a lot of social contact.

I find that many associates become friends usually over a period of time. I've read many of your questions and answers and always felt they where really good.

In my case I would class you an associate. To some degree this is a sort of provisional friend.

If I ever bumped into you or any of the other IQers I would definitely extend any hospitality and assistance that I could, My "Handle" is lettered on my white van because it's also the name of my small company, so real world I suppose I'm quite easy to spot as a Lycos IQer.

But you would have to like rural areas of south Holland and Flanders to want to come and visit (Although Antwerp can be fun).

With typical British reserve, I have difficulty referring to someone as a friend unless I know it is a two way thing. But, yes, your answers and general direction of thinking (plus some of your dry humour) is very in tune with how I also think about things. On a number of occasions I have read answers from you and thought 'that is just what I would have said and the points I would have made'. I would just like to think I would have said it as well.
The difference comes when you talk about Cronus. He sounds just the sort of dog I would like but I have made the concious decision not to have one because of the tie (I certainly would not have a dog that I could not treat fairly in time).
Yes, if you consider me to be a friend then I would also feel the same about you.
As for visits, if you are ever in the Munich area of Germany then lets meet up some refreshment and see how it goes.

I would not consider you a friend, but that doesn't mean that I wouldn't want to. Friendship is about far more than can be perceived through interaction on a website such as this.

But, I would be more than happy to extend an invitation to you and Kiki for a visit to wet and windy South West Wales. If at the end of the visit, my opinion of you had not been reduced, then I would be happy to call you a friend. I have a great deal of respect for your opinions, even when they clash with mine, and the way you put forward you beliefs with sincerity and tolerance. Just the sort of person I am happy to call friend, regardless of how I met them.

Hi Kent,

I echo the general sentiment that it is a bit of a jump from "screen friend" to "stayover friend" - I prefer an intermediate hop to "meet & greet friend" first, so if you're ever knocking around the Cotswolds...
:-)

I certainly consider you an online friend. Of course I'd have to make the journey to the States to find out whether we would also become real-life friends. I have many online friends, and this applies to all of them. I have to say I admire most of what you say, and respectfully disagree with the rest. I believe you are a person of integrity, and that is important to me.

You're about as much a friend as anyoneI have met online. Due to my autism that's about as far as it will go. You have shown me some things that I can emulate which counts for a lot with me.

I could not allow anyone to stay in my home (not even relatives) so if we met it would have to be somewhere in public. It would still be limited though as I do have that tendency to put my foot in my mouth as soon as I open it.

With the Australian dollar now at 98¢ US I doubt you'd be heading this way anyway.

Just let me know when and I'll keep the kettle hot, make up the spare room, and kill the fatted calf (figuratively speaking, I'd get done for cruelty even though I used to be a butcher.)

You'd be more than welcome m'dear.

I would like to say yes, I am your friend - but that is an initial reaction.
In fact I have to say I don´t know you, so how can we be friends?
I certainly admire many of your contributions to the site and see you as a gentleman of honour. If friends could be chosen on an abstract basis then I´d be glad to be your friend.
As with many of the others, inviting you into my home is a different kettle of fish! British reserve maybe - but I find it rather shocking that Americans open their houses and lives to complete strangers, wonderfully hospitable, but we Brits just aren´t like that!
I feel warm and positive towards you - is that being a friend?