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My friends contact me only when they need something.
My friends contact me only when they need something.
Answer the pattern, not the latest favour. A smaller yes, or a clear no, tells you whether there is a friendship left when nobody needs a lift.
What may actually be happening
Some people are warm only when a problem needs a volunteer. Others are disorganised and you became the reliable one. Both feel the same in your phone until you stop supplying the favour on demand.
Look at it from both sides
They may not have noticed the ratio. You may have taught them the ratio by always being free. Neither fact obliges you to keep the job.
What you can do
Respond to the next ask with a boundary and an invitation that is not a task. 'I can't drive on Thursday. If you want to walk on Saturday, I can do that.' Then watch what they do when there is nothing to extract.
What not to do
Do not send a scoreboard text at midnight. Do not punish them with silence and then complain that they vanished. Do not accept the favour and narrate the resentment afterward.
Try this today
Write the no in one line before they ask again. If the friendship only exists inside emergencies you no longer want, say that once, plainly, and let the next month be data.