I do find it quite bullish that the OP has many friends that express an interest in Litecoin.
I would bare in mind that all crypto currency's are in there infancy. I don't feel any such need to defend Bitcoin over other alt coins as for price it's not the absolute deffinition of success, I found Bitcoin just as useful as a payment vehicle at $2 as it is now.
Buying a few bitcoins could be a good idea, buying Litecoin could also be a good idea. Getting too heavily into any crypto coin financially speaking whereby it's causing undue stress and worry that another altcoin could steal that money from you has all the hallmarks of being in too deep it's advisable to step back a little.