Feeling like a "potato"?

i was sitting at my desk today just working away and was overhearing one of my coworkers talk with someone else..... well not quite...they were being talked to as opposed to having a conversation...and i came to this thought:

(....and i'm really trying to say this in the nicest way i can...)

i hate people who only talk to you when they want to brag or just whine, complain or gossip...not only is it annoying as heck, but i might as well have just stuck them in front of a potato on a stick, called it a warm body, since it would have served the same purpose anyways...now i'm not saying that as a friend i wouldn't take it, but only as long as i know that that person is genuinely concerned about me in the same way (and would know this because these people would have shown an interest in me and how i was doing from time to time)... if not, i don't really consider myself their "friend" ...at best just an "acquaintance", at worst an "annoyance".

...i guess the older i get, the less time and patience i have to be the "potato" for other people.