Friendship

I know this may sound sappy but I'm thinking about Eric and Dylan and their friendship. So we know Eric has stated Dylan was his best and pretty much only close friend and Dylan named a few people as his friends (from diversion records I believe)

That has to be somewhat of an odd bonding experience for so long knowing that you are going to commit such an act then kill yourselves, but you still have to be around others and make memories with them. I can't imagine finding a friend who would say"I would totally die with you and take everyone down"

Has their been any articles written about that? Has any of Dylan's friends talked about that? I think Brooks did but I'm not sure about Zach.

Screamingophelia wrote:

I can't imagine finding a friend who would say"I would totally die with you and take everyone down.

I agree. The fact that they followed through and didn't bail on each other says a lot about the relationship. We all know that E&D likely had their own reasons for NBK. Yet they chose to combine forces, because they knew they were stronger together then on their own.

The phrase 'Ride or Die' is thrown around way to much in today's youth. The ones that swear they would take a bullet for you, more often then not become the one who shoots you in the back.  All these kids who say they are best friends with someone, yet will keep snapchat logs, screenshots, etc, all in the name of having something to hold over that persons head, or as payback later on. That isn't friendship to me.

I have said before that people these days have no meaning of the word friendship. From past experience, I learned that others will not be as loyal as you are to them. So the fact that Eric and Dylan stayed true to their friendship and the end goal is rare. Especially in regards to something like Columbine.

I think their other friends were blindsided. Just going off of the interviews I have read. Nate Dykeman and Zach were the ones that were close to Dylan and they knew nothing of the plans and I think they realized how they never really knew Dylan

Lizpuff wrote:

I think their other friends were blindsided.  Just going off of the interviews I have read.  Nate Dykeman and Zach were the ones that were close to Dylan and they knew nothing of the plans and I think they realized how they never really knew Dylan

I agree. I'm sure when Columbine was happening and the reports of Dylan being involved came in, that his close friends were in total disbelief.

Oh also would be Erik Veik. That poor boy just about had a coronary when he saw what happened and he wasn't involved.

I think though that only Veik considered himself a friend. I don't think Dylan or Eric thought much of him at the time.

Lizpuff wrote:

Oh also would be Erik Veik.  That poor boy just about had a coronary when he saw what happened and he wasn't involved.  

I think though that only Veik considered himself a friend.  I don't think Dylan or Eric thought much of him at the time.

I have always wondered about Veik. He obviously thought he had been left out, and seemed completely downhearted that he wasn't included in the massacre. He then went on to get caught at the other school (Chatfield High) that October for planning another shooting to 'Finish the job'.

Almost makes one wonder what all he knew at that time, or if he just assumed anything that Eric and Dylan said was them just playing around, like all their other friends. But Veik seemed to be the only one who appeared sad that he hadn't got to participate in the killings. Also the only one of their friends that later on tried to do a copycat of E&D.

ShadowedGoddess wrote:

Lizpuff wrote:

Oh also would be Erik Veik.  That poor boy just about had a coronary when he saw what happened and he wasn't involved.  

I think though that only Veik considered himself a friend.  I don't think Dylan or Eric thought much of him at the time.

I have always wondered about Veik. He obviously thought he had been left out, and seemed completely downhearted that he wasn't included in the massacre. He then went on to get caught at the other school (Chatfield High) that October for planning another shooting to 'Finish the job'.

Almost makes one wonder what all he knew at that time, or if he just assumed anything that Eric and Dylan said was them just playing around, like all their other friends. But Veik seemed to be the only one who appeared sad that he hadn't got to participate in the killings. Also the only one of their friends that later on tried to do a copycat of E&D.

I do wonder about him. Everything I read seems to state that he "was not serious" but I just cant seem to shake the feeling that he was. It may only have been talk but it was some very detailed talk. I think he was trying to see who would be willing to partner up with him to carry out the plan. Only fortunately Veik's friends eventually told the police what was going on instead of joining him

Lizpuff wrote:

I do wonder about him.  Everything I read seems to state that he "was not serious" but I just cant seem to shake the feeling that he was.  It may only have been talk but it was some very detailed talk.  I think he was trying to see who would be willing to partner up with him to carry out the plan.  Only fortunately Veik's friends eventually told the police what was going on instead of joining him

I think he mainly just wanted attention. When he saw how much the media was covering E&D, he decided to copycat them. I'm not sure how serious he could have been, as he was practically telling anyone who would listen to him what he was planning. Which is how he got caught.

In my opinion he felt left out and wanted some sort of recognition, he wanted people to know he was close to Eric and Dylan. Maybe he hoped that he would gain some kind of notoriety from being associated with them. I am sure he soon figured out that he really didn't want that type of attention after his little stunt.  As did their other friends. Most of them would have lasting effects on their lives. None of which were very good.

Screamingophelia wrote:

That has to be somewhat of an odd bonding experience for so long knowing that you are going to commit such an act then kill yourselves, but you still have to be around others and make memories with them. I can't imagine finding a friend who would say"I would totally die with you and take everyone down"

ShadowedGoddess wrote:

I agree. The fact that they followed through and didn't bail on each other says a lot about the relationship. We all know that E&D likely had their own reasons for NBK. Yet they chose to combine forces, because they knew they were stronger together then on their own.

The phrase 'Ride or Die' is thrown around way to much in today's youth. The ones that swear they would take a bullet for you, more often then not become the one who shoots you in the back.  All these kids who say they are best friends with someone, yet will keep snapchat logs, screenshots, etc, all in the name of having something to hold over that persons head, or as payback later on. That isn't friendship to me.

I have said before that people these days have no meaning of the word friendship. From past experience, I learned that others will not be as loyal as you are to them. So the fact that Eric and Dylan stayed true to their friendship and the end goal is rare. Especially in regards to something like Columbine.

The fact that there were 2 of them was always the most fascinating aspect of the case to me.

AestheticDeath wrote:

The fact that there were 2 of them was always the most fascinating aspect of the case to me.

For me as well. Usually the more people involved in anything raises the chances of it going south. Especially with something on the scale of Columbine.

Eric's knowledge of bomb making and military actually makes me think even more so that it was Dylan's idea first off.

He needed someone to help pull it off, Eric is a planner, Dylan is not. It was another reason it was the perfect pairing for lack of a better phrase.

Screamingophelia wrote:

Eric's knowledge of bomb making and military actually makes me think even more so that it was Dylan's idea first off.

He needed someone to help pull it off, Eric is a planner, Dylan is not.  It was another reason it was the perfect pairing for lack of a better phrase.

Dylan deleted his hard drive a day prior to the massacre, and some pages from his journal are missing, therefore we can't be sure if Eric was the only one planning. On top of that, Eric was just an amateur, he got most of his information from the Anarchist Cookbook, which was proven to be inaccurate and not safe. Internet was still growing in 1999, so information was very limited.

Good point. Another reason people assume Eric did most of the planning.

1Mare1 wrote:

Dylan deleted his hard drive a day prior to the massacre, and some pages from his journal are missing, therefore we can't be sure if Eric was the only one planning. On top of that, Eric was just an amateur, he got most of his information from the Anarchist Cookbook, which was proven to be inaccurate and not safe. Internet was still growing in 1999, so information was very limited.

Obviously there were things on hard drive that Dylan never wanted anyone to see. I'm sure the stuff that he destroyed would be a huge eye opener for some.

The missing pages from his journal could have had been torn out for anything, considering Dylan would often write on scraps of paper. To my understanding, he really didn't keep a journal in the sense that he would only write in one notebook.

That's true, SK said in her book he wrote a lot on backs of random advertisements and school reports.

Your topic reminds me of a great article written in 1999 by Rocky Mountain News Lynn Bartels & Carla Crowder entitled "Fatal Friendship":

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Thanks for sharing this!

anytime, you are welcome!