How the Recession Is Wrecking Friendships

For those of you whose friendships are strained by the bad economy, you're not alone. The recession is taking its toll on many companions, says Slate's Emily Bazelon:

Even small, nuanced class differences can be hard to negotiate. Do you feel your throat constrict when you suggest a meal with a friend at a restaurant that you worry might be too pricey, or not pricey enough? Have you ever had a friend over a few times and not been invited to her place in return, only to figure out, when you've finished feeling insulted, that your friend is embarrassed by her apartment? We often sidestep relationships in which spending habits don't match up exactly, I think, to spare ourselves feelings of inadequacy or insensitivity, those awkward breaches that make intimacy feel like work. Remember that indie movie Friends With Money, in which Jennifer Aniston flummoxes her whole circle of screenwriter and fashion-designer friends by going to work as a maid?

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