well done.

Words are important and how you think of your life in words (in your mind) is important, too.

When you call them acquaintances, you automatically lower your expectations. Once you have lowered your expectations, you find yourself not minding being on the receiving end of occasional small talk from them as long as they are civil (the bold part above).

But if you think of them as friends, then your expectations are HIGH, and occasional small talk, by failing to meet those HIGH expectations, serves to disappoint and hurt you.