To think a friendship with such a large age gap at this age is odd

[User700800]

My 16 year old god daughter has recently started a part time job in retail. She's become friends with a young woman who works there who's 22 and they are now spending a lot of time together. I myself have friends quite a bit younger or older than me. I just think at this age the difference is surely too great?

There’s 8 years between my best friend and I. She’s the eldest. I love her to bits and wouldn’t be without her. Sometimes I think when I was 10 she was 18 and I think that’s odd but as were older now, the age gap is irrelevant. Chances are though that your daughter won’t know this other person in 2/5/10 etc years time.

One of my closest friends is nearly 20 years older than me. We met at work when I was 24 & she was early 40s.
I can't see anything odd about 2 young women working together, finding common ground and forming a friendship!

When people start work their world opens up, for the rest of her life she's going to have friends amd collegues of all different ages, interests and backgrounds. You and she are going to have to get used to that and build up some resilience to people and situations that are challenging.

I have friends of all ages - usually older than me. I’m mid 30s & one of my best mates is mid 50s. Also enjoy spending time with close friends who are in their 60s. Entirely depends who you click/connect with.

I find it comforting that my DD has friends older and more mature than her. I like to think she could talk to me about most things but at the end of the day I'm her Mum and having other people to talk to is probably a good thing

One of my best and dearest friends was in her 60's we were friends from me being 22 through to last year so 7 years when she suddenly passed away she's my eldest dds godmother I miss her every day
Unless she's pushing your god daughter to do or try things she doesn't want to it's fine

Oh blimey! When I was 18 one of my best friends was 80! Great woman, wicked sense of humour!

I am now in my 30s and have a really good friend who is 17. Said 17 year old has lots of other mutual friends around my age and older and it really isn't a problem!
OP stop worrying unless you have cause to.

DD started in retail (river island) at 16, she had loads of friends in their 20s that she regularly socialised with.

I'm 25 and one of my good friends is 62. Weird? Nope!

I'm 45 and my best mate is 24.

I met my best friend when I was 18 and she was 34. Over 50 years later we are still best friends.

On the reverse I met a Russian guy (who now lives in Australia) in an online game when he was 17 and I was in my 60s. I don't understand why we clicked, probably similar sense of humour. Seven years later, we are still friends and speak most days on Skype. I helped him when he was at university by proof reading his essays as English was his second language. He is now a social worker and he and his girl friend are planning to come to the UK to visit me next year.

Age gaps are meaningless.

Couldn't be less odd.

When I was 12 my best friend was my 93 year old NDN (no lie. Her name was Lily and she lived alone. I used to go round every day and she'd tell me fascinating stories from her youth!)

People just click sometimes and age has no bearing at all.

Nowt wrong with that. My best mate is 14 years younger than me.

My best work colleague is around 10 years younger than me. When you click you click. Nothing odd about it

I worked part time in a supermarket when I was 16 and became close friends with a 34 year old. We're still friends 22 years later even though I now live 5 hours' drive from her and work in a completely different job. She's awesome.

My best friend is 21 years older than me (I'm 39). I have lots of friends in their early-mid 20s.

When did 'only being friends with people who are +/- two years than you become a thing?

In work, if a colleague's age is within 5 years of your own, you're pretty much the same age. In school you wouldn't even be in secondary at the same time. Age really is just a number at work.

One of my best friends is 65. I’m 41.

YABU

Gallicos I think you're right- it does depend on context but also I think there's a difference between a "friendly relationship" and a "friendship of equals" . When you're both indisputably adults, or the age gap is massive, and/or the older person appreciates that, it's not so problematic, but possibly when there's an age gap but it's not huge in absolute terms (or relative to how long the parties have been alive), and one person isn't an adult, it can lead to some problems with the younger person trying to "keep up" with the older person.

When I was 17 my closest friend was 23. Mainly as I was the youngest person that worked where I did and she was the next youngest.

I'm guessing it's because OP's dd isn't an adult yet and is hanging around with someone who might do things adults do and in that way I kind of understand as older than that they're both in the same world iykwim

One of my best friends is 65. I’m 41.
All of these examples are not the same as a 16 yo being friends with an adult

All of these examples are not the same as a 16 yo being friends with an adult

True, but the adult in this case is 22.

There is nothing particularly unusual about a friendship between a 16 year old and a 22 year old.

I find it a bit odd. Age gap friendships are perfectly normal. But it's a bit different as she's 16 if they are hanging outside of work. I worked in retail in my early twenties and there is no way I'd see the 16 year olds outside of work even though we had a laugh in the shop and we got on well. The level of conversation was completely different.

My 16-year-old dd used to go out dancing until three at the morning with her older friends. None of them drank or smoked and they always her brought home. I was so happy for her.