And then you're responsible for your rose

Dear future hubster,

have you ever considered how making (new) friends is a deeply unnerving experience, requiring quite some courage?

Basically, you meet a person, observe them for a while, evaluate their pros and cons, and at some point you decide. You decide to willingly make yourself exposed and vulnerable, and say:

"Hey, you, person! I kinda like you. So here you go: all my dirty little secrets, teenage crushes, barely acceptable political views, complete ignorance in most domains, questionable choices in the 3M (music, movies and men), cheap wisdom and childish manners, on a silver tray. Over to you. Please be gentle, this is all I have."

And all this leap of faith based on what? That it worked out last time you tried?