If you've ever consumed any media, you would be forgiven for thinking that life after 35 is a burning wasteland of unimaginable horrors: the beginnings of incessant back pain, an interest in dishwasher loading, the discovery that you're ineligible for entire industries billed as a young person's game, and, apparently, an inability to make friends. It becomes harder to make friends as you get older, goes the adage, and indeed, 69% of people in a US survey by Talker Research agree that making close friends becomes more difficult as you age.