Why would you do something for a colleague that you wouldn’t do for a friend?

Friends are supposed to help friends out; in fact, it is one of the biggest benefits of being buddies with someone. Obviously, the assistance should be mutual, and it shouldn’t take too many liberties, but it is usually not too much of a stretch to expect someone you are friends with to do you a favor.

At the same time, having appropriate boundaries when it comes to helping other people can be important. Some individuals have a tendency to take and take without giving back, and ask for things that go way beyond the limits of the average good Samaritan. Just because our friends can be useful to us doesn’t mean that this is their only purpose. 

It can be annoying to think that we can rely on a friend to help us with something and get turned down, but sometimes, their reasons are valid. Having modest expectations is important, even if this is a person who has done a lot for you in the past. You never know how opinions and circumstances may end up changing, leaving you with a very different scenario than what you expected.