I tend to not be terribly opinionated. I take everything I hear with a grain of salt. I'm easy going. But, I do have my limits. I blew off a 10 year friendship with this guy because he changed. He became a pretty conservative right-winged, opinionated person. I remember him complaining that somebody wasn't allowed to build a high-rise becuase it would have interfered with the migration path of some endangered butterfly. I wanted to respond about destroying a species for profit and get into an environmental debate. But I decided against it because between myself and him, we wouldn't be able to resolve the issue. He also got an Explorer a few years after I bought a Trooper. He proclaimed how much better the Explorer was (it has a digital compass) (I still have my '92 Trooper, he wrecked his Exploder). Well, that was the beginning of the end. I saw less and less of him. We still exchange Christmas cards.
It's been maybe 5 years, now. A month ago, he calls me at work. He asks how I am (a very rare occurance for him since he's really a 'me' kind of guy.) I'm fine, so I ask him what's up. There's a long pause and then, "My wife's leaving me!!! sob sob I'm sorry, I'm very emotional right now..." He dumps on me his miserable story and in the end, I can see why she left. Nevertheless, I attempt to comfort him a bit and tell him to get his own bank accounts immediately and get a lawyer and keep up a good front for the kids, blah, blah blah.
Growing up, my neighbor and I were best friends, from 5 years old through maybe 10. Then his family moved. We kept a little contact but eventually that faded. He somehow finds my number (I guess not too hard, these days) and leaves a message: "It's a voice from your past and I'd like to talk to you." Not much else. A few days later I call. (I've been very busy and hadn't a chance earlier.) We talked a little bit, and then he gets into the meat of his call. He wanted to remember the name of the family across the street in our childhood neighborhood. A simply awful family of thugs and low-lifes. I would not be suprised if the two boys were either dead or holed up in jail. Anyway, my old friend has started having memory flashes of being molested by the father of that wretched family. He's had some counseling, but without some validation from me that the family existed and what their names are and their disposition - things he needed from me - he couldn't find closure.
I think it's just weird. Long lost friends calling me and dumping. Of course, I give them the support their looking for. Should I follow up, get involved, rekindle a relationship based on the incidences they've shared with me? I don't know. It's creepy. I did tell the failed marraige guy to keep me posted. I haven't heard back from him. The childhood friend lives in Florida (I'm in California), but he now knows I'll be there for IMFL. He said he may come out to see me then. Well, that's a long way off!
Just bizarre.
Proud member of FISHTWITCH: doing a bit more than fish exercise now.
It's been maybe 5 years, now. A month ago, he calls me at work. He asks how I am (a very rare occurance for him since he's really a 'me' kind of guy.) I'm fine, so I ask him what's up. There's a long pause and then, "My wife's leaving me!!! sob sob I'm sorry, I'm very emotional right now..." He dumps on me his miserable story and in the end, I can see why she left. Nevertheless, I attempt to comfort him a bit and tell him to get his own bank accounts immediately and get a lawyer and keep up a good front for the kids, blah, blah blah.
Growing up, my neighbor and I were best friends, from 5 years old through maybe 10. Then his family moved. We kept a little contact but eventually that faded. He somehow finds my number (I guess not too hard, these days) and leaves a message: "It's a voice from your past and I'd like to talk to you." Not much else. A few days later I call. (I've been very busy and hadn't a chance earlier.) We talked a little bit, and then he gets into the meat of his call. He wanted to remember the name of the family across the street in our childhood neighborhood. A simply awful family of thugs and low-lifes. I would not be suprised if the two boys were either dead or holed up in jail. Anyway, my old friend has started having memory flashes of being molested by the father of that wretched family. He's had some counseling, but without some validation from me that the family existed and what their names are and their disposition - things he needed from me - he couldn't find closure.
I think it's just weird. Long lost friends calling me and dumping. Of course, I give them the support their looking for. Should I follow up, get involved, rekindle a relationship based on the incidences they've shared with me? I don't know. It's creepy. I did tell the failed marraige guy to keep me posted. I haven't heard back from him. The childhood friend lives in Florida (I'm in California), but he now knows I'll be there for IMFL. He said he may come out to see me then. Well, that's a long way off!
Just bizarre.
Proud member of FISHTWITCH: doing a bit more than fish exercise now.