Friendships are hard in adulthood because of a myriad of reasons but its primarily that adults have a higher bar of trust needed so you need to build rapport slowly over time.

Its made extra bad today because everyone is working all the time but is too broke to visit social places weekly or more which is largely required for that rapport.

Can you be friendly by offering someone some gum and make them like you more in that moment? Sure. But try getting their contact information at the end of your social encounter and you’ll find its more of a crapshoot if you get any, and even if you do whether you actually stay in regular contact anyway.