[subtra3t]

Perhaps a possible drawback of such an arrangement could be that people change over time, and sometimes you just don't like the new person that they've become.

Maybe you were best friends with a guy 10 years ago. But gradually, the guy has changed fundamentally as a person, and you may not be as confortable with the guy as you used to be.

Hopelessly trying to continue the relationship would serve no purpose.

[schlowmo]

Well that "arrangement" isn't a marriage of convenience. It can end anytime if we drift apart. We all acknowledge that we are different people then we were before. So is the world.

I'm grateful being around people who know whom I was 10-20 years ago. Some of them know me almost half of my life. And it can sometimes help being reminded of that past-self by other people.