Sorry it's so hard for you - it's often been hard here too for me. People are confusing and come and go and nothing lasts. Ah well. I'm not that good at friendships, but here's what I've been told;
- Find out about groups that interest you, and go along - cos there'll be people like you. I'm interested in creative writing, attending a writer's group, where I met my best friend six months ago.
- I don't reckon it would be a good idea just to walk up to random people in the street. Even if it's friendly, it would be considered strange or dodgy - maddening, yeah, but it probably can't be changed. I kind of get scared when someone walks up and acts friendly just randomly from the street.
- How old are you? D'you go to work, college? I'm guessing just be friendly and say something - my best friend, I think I just said something like "Are you a fresher here?" or even just "Ouch - stubbed my toe" and laugh. It seems to work for me, at any rate, and even just if you say a few words to somebody, introduce yourself.
- Make sure you remember people you talk to, don't just tick them off and forget them, because if you remember them and say hi in passing, that will make you stick in their memory and you can have a longer conversation next time. But for the first meeting, keep the conversation short.
- Don't touch them, except for possibly a hand shake, and stand at least two feet away so they don't feel crowded.
- Only ask for contact details if you have some appropriate reason like wanting to send them something that you think might be of interest - that way they won't feel crowded or like you're stalking them!
- If establishing contact through phone or email or letter, try making contact, and then leave it up to them to reply - if you keep trying to get in touch they think they don't need to bother so won't. The friencship needs balance and it's their responsibility now to get back to you if they want to stay in touch. Leave it a while, and possibly try once more if it doesn't work. After that assume they're not planning on staying in touch, and try and look for a friend elsewhere. That's the bit I find toughest - letting go, but no point in flogging a dead horse.
- If they do keep it up, make sure you get back to them when it's your turn - good way to show you appreciate their friendship.
Hope these were a help and didn't seem high minded or obvious - I don't really know what I'm talking about here, but that seemed to work for me. And something I've learned is not to take it personally if a friend does drift away - they may not realise they are really important to you and assume you have loads of other friends - in other words, they may not realise it is harder for you that they have drifted away than it is for them. And there's plenty of people who would be your friend - I have my first even friendship now, and it was by chance, so I guess one just has to keep looking and talking and trying and one day they will find a mutual friendship. Hope that helped!