Again, I ask...

Is it better to have what is generally known as "friendship," but is solely limited to superficial hello's, and maybe an occasional conversation or "hang out time" in which neither person is left with any real hint of who the other is... if it means that you can keep a friendship with those whose company you enjoy?

Or is it better to be real, get deeper, and allow them to see you're not all "together" or in fact very far from it, and run the risk of watching them wonder why they ever wanted your friendship in the first places, or seeing them not like the person you really are, or feel that they are "stuck" until life parts your ways and they can pretend you never existed?

I've always wondered if small talk questions are only a person's way of simply following the social gestures of society, or if it really is an honest effort to get to know one another in a non-awkward way. I think that far too many people leave their friendships at stage 1, and never venture to a deeper level, in which a person's character is truly revealed.

Where is the line that should be crossed? The line seperating acquaintances and friends, or even friends and closer friends? How often should we cross it? Who should cross it? When do we cross it?