Talking backwards.

But how do friend??

Question:
How do I communicate “I want to be friends” in a way that doesn’t creep people out?

I’ve always been told that that’s a weird thing to say to anyone, like it actually guarantees you won’t be friends or something. Like it’s some kind of red flag?

People have told me I’m cold or unapproachable. But??

How am I (someone who has extraordinary difficulty communicating with people and making friends) supposed to express my interest in getting to know someone if things like “I want to be friends” and even “I’d like to get to know you” just drive people away?

Am I supposed to be super secretive about wanting to know people? Like… pretend it’s some happy accident that I get along with someone enough to talk to them?

Talking to people feels like some some secret club where there’s a secret code that gets you in, but somehow I don’t know the code and nobody will tell me what the code is, they just keep saying, “No, just go into the club, it’s not a big deal, there’s plenty of people to talk to inside the club once you’re in it!”

And people I know say things like, “Oh don’t worry socializing is difficult for everyone!” but then

I see people making friends. People with friends everywhere. People talking to friends. Hanging out with friends. Friends, friends everywhere. There are sooo many people to be friends with but— how—? How do friend???

Why is there so much secret bullshit in language and socializing?

WHY.

tldr; me trying to People: