Better it happened now than after more wasted time of them hiding their true colors. We're a pretty self-alienating community due to our intellectual/emotional relationships to the things most people still plan their lives around and find material comfort in.

That said, I assure you there are plenty of people out there that aren't assholes and would be happy to be a close friend. If you can, focus on what you enjoy doing the most, the friends you meet this method are going to be light-years better than friends made by forced association (growing up locally, school/work/college).