So I've noticed something fairly true happening of late. I'm 32, which I still feel pretty young, but to the women friends I have they don't feel that way.

I still have a few close female friends since my early 20s, I wouldn't say they 'friendzoned' me, back then I just used to try and cast a fairly broad social net, met some people who I would have been interested in that became friends, and went on to date/get in relationships with others.

The ones that stuck around, I must admit have been pretty excellent friends. As long as its purely platonic, I do find female friends can be there for you, can give as much as they take, can be reliable etc.

The thing I'm noticing more and more though, they are obviously strongly hinting at relationships. 22 year old me would have loved this, but having gotten to know them well its not that simple. A relationship doesn't mean just hanging out and having sex, you have been briefed, they expect kids, european holidays, to move in together etc etc.

The few close female friends I still have are actually still fairly attractive, its surprising to me their 'luck' in relationships is so bad. I think its more that they're so used to being a passive player in dating, they don't actually know what to do when the easiness of it leaves.

Not really sure the point of this post, I guess overall I'm more just surprised that relationships with these women used to be so appealing, I wouldn't have even thought twice, but now I feel like I'm constantly having to shut them down, because I know the true cost of getting involved. They're not just offering casual companionship, there is a huge list of demands that come with a relationship with them and I feel they know they've informed me of this due to our role as friends.