I have one friend and she acused me f stealing so pretty much venting cuased me to lose my friends and that was the only time I had ever said anything to them about anything....
Some people do try to make it into a contest, but maybe others will tell their situation in comparison to show the other person that theirs could be worse or that at least they aren't in the position as their friend. It just depends on how people word it, tone of their voice and such. But not most people do it as a contest.