Everyone has a mean friend that roasts them far too often and even makes you second guess your friendship at times. But there are two types of mean friends: the one who parents you and the one who roasts you.

Both are the first to tell you to change your clothes, judge your actions and to make you feel guilty for treating yourself too much. Anyone can be a friend and occasionally mean but there are friends who only live to be mean to you. But we still love these friends, no matter how mean they can be.

Honestly, we all need someone to keep us in line, especially when you’re in the boiling pot that is college.

The first type of mean friend is like a parent that doesn’t have to worry about your feelings. And in reality, you need that friend and they need you. You need someone to stop you from making a complete fool of yourself and they need someone to judge.

This friend usually has their stuff together or they’re really good at playing the role of ‘responsible.’ They might be able to give you great advice about why you should try harder or how to be more of an ‘adult.’ But they also need you when they want to cut loose. They are most confused by the words ‘fun’ and ‘humor.’

We put up with them because they know how resumes work and they’ve stopped you from making some really bad decisions.

The second type of mean friend just exists to remind you how bad you are at everything. They are the first to initiate roasting in the group chat, they love pranks, and they won’t hesitate to tell you to how dumb that purchase was.

Without this mean friend, chances are that you’d look a lot worse than you already do on a regular basis. You are their main source of entertainment and they often get all of your friends in on the joke.

Before you put anything on, you often stop to think, “What could they possibly have to say about this? Oh wait…” which is great when half of your closet is just free t-shirts. There’s no denying it, they may be mean but they sure are funny too. It’s hard to be mad at a roast when it also makes you laugh.

Let’s face it, we all deserve to be roasted every once in a while.

Aside from all of the mean words that come from these friends, they are great friends who care about you. They only understand tough love and that’s fine because the truth hurts but we need the truth.

A real friend doesn’t think about your feelings before they advise you. If I let a friend’s emotions stop me every time I wanted to say something, I would be a very, very quiet person.

Fortunately, roasting brings friends closer. It’s like the modern way that millennials use to come to terms with their insecurities and to become closer with their friends. At the end of the day, you love your friends and they love you. No amount of jokes or roasts will change your friendship, they actually make your friendship stronger.

Friends who roast each other, stay together.