Adam
"[A]ny new friends people might make in middle age are likely to be grafted onto other kinds of relationships—as with co-workers, or parents of their children’s friends—because it’s easier for time-strapped adults to make friends when they already have an excuse to spend time together. As a result, the 'making friends' skill can atrophy."
Although I'm a few years off from being middle-aged, this is pretty painfully true. The few new friends I've made recently are do to being a parent.
Adam
The one exception is that my wife and I are slowly developing a casual friendship with our neighbours across the street, but even this is partially (though not entirely) explained by the fact that our kids are roughly the same age and we want them to have friends in the neighbourhood.
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