J - continued

Well.

As you can see, the last post threw me a bit. Or not the post, so much as the email that prompted it. It's taken me a couple of days to get my head round it, and I can't help comparing my old friend to one of my newer friends. They're very similar, in that they both ALWAYS assume the worst about me.

This friend, the newer one--I've wanted to show her my blog since I started it, but I've been apprehensive. I know, as soon as she sees it, she'll think that she's the person mentioned in 'My Fat Friend'

Nevermind that I know 2 people on the Cambridge Diet (that's not even what she called it, so how'd I know the name of it, if she was the only one doing it?). Nevermind that she's not 3 inches shorter than me, or 30 lbs heavier. Nevermind that, to the best of my knowledge, she doesn't even wear glasses, much less glasses that I've seen so often I can describe them in detail.

When she sees that entry, she'll latch onto the fact that she's been on that diet and she is a little shorter than me, and she'll assume it's all about her. And she'll not speak to me for 3 weeks, or 6 months, or until the next time she bumps into me in town... you get the picture.

And the older friend, no doubt I've pissed him off with my response to his email, and soon I'll get the (10th or so) email bearing his favourite phrase; 'you're dead to me,' and it'll be another 6 months (at least) before I hear from him again.

The thing is, I don't see how they can't see that they're being ridiculous. They do this so often, and with so many people (they've each had numerous fallings out, with a wide variety of people--how can they think the problem's not their own?) I find it hard to believe that they don't enjoy it on some level. A low, nasty, horrible little level that we've probably all got inside of us, but most of us are aware of having, and try to suppress or at least understand.

I suppose when you're always right, it's hard to change your behaviour.