Back when I graduated high school in 1993, it was a bit tougher to stay in touch with people. Unlike today's teenagers no one had cell phones and e-mail & internet usage were in their infancy. Had anyone even thought of social networking sites at that time? The combination of busy work and school schedules, along with location changes made it difficult for me to stay in touch with some of my close friends from high school. Despite the best of intentions, we drifted apart.
Over the past few months I have found some of those friends again on Facebook. And while I was glad to see all of them again and catch up with their lives via photos and messages, there was still one person "missing" in my heart. She was the girl who I would consider my best friend in high school, the one that I had kept in touch with the longest post-graduation, the one that left me thinking "I wonder what she's up to." I had done a couple FB and MySpace searches for her in the past to no avail. (I swear I'm not a stalker!) But today, there was a wonderful surprise in my Yahoo! inbox -- a message requesting that I confirm her as a friend.
With this new addition, I have now reconnected with the core group of people I spent my high school years with. I'm pretty darn stoked about it. :)
Showing posts with label relationships. Show all posts
Showing posts with label relationships. Show all posts
Friday, September 26, 2008
Sunday, August 24, 2008
I Feel Validated
It's no secret that Eddie and I are total tv-holics. Sometimes I wonder if we watch too much of it and should be spending time together doing other, more productive things. But then I came across this article on MSN.com regarding the secrets of happy couples. I instantly related to one of the couples that was interviewed. We won't be cutting our cable anytime soon. ;-)
3. Share a guilty pleasure.
Eavesdrop on a conversation between Bob and Angie concerning their favorite shared pastime. "We are so disgusting. This is so pathetic. It's like a sickness." "But it makes us happy!" "It's so stupid it makes us laugh." "We're yelling at people. High-fiving each other." "Look, we get a kick out of it because it's so ridiculous. It's our guilty pleasure."
Forgive them if they seem somewhat shy, but they're merely ashamed to admit that the daily ritual that brings such joy to their 12-year marriage is none other than reality TV.
That's right. They lived and died with Survivor. They've adopted Big Brother. Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? They do. "Honestly, I think we just need to be dumb for a while," says Bob, 37, a shoe designer for Reebok in Boston. "We're both very into our careers. And when you're at work, with any job there's going to be a certain amount of professional stress. You like to come home sometimes and, for that lousy hour or whatever, kick back and relax." Or as Angie, 36, a marketing executive, says, "Life is serious enough, isn't it? Sometimes you need to do something stupid. And if you can't be stupid with your husband, who can you be stupid with?"
3. Share a guilty pleasure.
Eavesdrop on a conversation between Bob and Angie concerning their favorite shared pastime. "We are so disgusting. This is so pathetic. It's like a sickness." "But it makes us happy!" "It's so stupid it makes us laugh." "We're yelling at people. High-fiving each other." "Look, we get a kick out of it because it's so ridiculous. It's our guilty pleasure."
Forgive them if they seem somewhat shy, but they're merely ashamed to admit that the daily ritual that brings such joy to their 12-year marriage is none other than reality TV.
That's right. They lived and died with Survivor. They've adopted Big Brother. Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? They do. "Honestly, I think we just need to be dumb for a while," says Bob, 37, a shoe designer for Reebok in Boston. "We're both very into our careers. And when you're at work, with any job there's going to be a certain amount of professional stress. You like to come home sometimes and, for that lousy hour or whatever, kick back and relax." Or as Angie, 36, a marketing executive, says, "Life is serious enough, isn't it? Sometimes you need to do something stupid. And if you can't be stupid with your husband, who can you be stupid with?"
Monday, July 21, 2008
Not Quite a Frenemy
Today I found out that a co-worker who I had once considered a close enough friend to be invited to our wedding didn’t invite us to his annual birthday bash that was held this past weekend. And judging by the look that crossed my friend’s face after she mentioned the party in conversation this morning, after realizing that I had previously known nothing about it, I think it was an intentional snub, not a mere oversight.
Even though I’ve seen this moment coming for the last eighteen months or so, I have to admit that it still stung for a moment. But then I realized that all the reasons why I saw this coming were the same reasons why I shouldn’t waste too much time mourning the loss of this particular relationship. True friends are the ones that are there for you when you’re going through a tough time. They back you up and set the record straight when other people gossip and spread lies about you. True friends try to make a difficult situation better for you rather than stir the pot for their own amusement. This guy did none of the above when the moment called for it. Instead he said that he was “going to stay neutral.”
According to Merriam-Webster:
Main Entry:
neutral
Function:
adjective
1: not engaged on either side
In this guy’s world however, neutral apparently meant developing a deeper friendship with the Lying Gossiper and abandoning our friendship entirely. His version of staying neutral apparently also includes perpetuating the myth that Lying Gossiper and I can’t ever be in the presence of each other without some sort of Armageddon occurring. This is the perhaps the part I find most offensive.
I am an adult. I am a professional. I am polite. In other words, I am capable of handling myself in a social situation where I may encounter someone I don’t particularly like. The fact that this co-worker doesn’t seem to think so and continues to fuel a battle long forgotten (on my part at least), that didn’t even involve him directly, speaks many more volumes about his lack of maturity, not mine.
I have made some good friends through working at The Agency. But experiences like this one make me want to re-examine some of those bonds. The co-worker in question didn’t invite me to his party (which I realize is his prerogative), but other mutual friends kept completely silent about it even in discussions about weekend plans. I hate to think that I need to detach from certain people, but what else can you do when a friend turns out not to be one after all?
Even though I’ve seen this moment coming for the last eighteen months or so, I have to admit that it still stung for a moment. But then I realized that all the reasons why I saw this coming were the same reasons why I shouldn’t waste too much time mourning the loss of this particular relationship. True friends are the ones that are there for you when you’re going through a tough time. They back you up and set the record straight when other people gossip and spread lies about you. True friends try to make a difficult situation better for you rather than stir the pot for their own amusement. This guy did none of the above when the moment called for it. Instead he said that he was “going to stay neutral.”
According to Merriam-Webster:
Main Entry:
neutral
Function:
adjective
1: not engaged on either side
In this guy’s world however, neutral apparently meant developing a deeper friendship with the Lying Gossiper and abandoning our friendship entirely. His version of staying neutral apparently also includes perpetuating the myth that Lying Gossiper and I can’t ever be in the presence of each other without some sort of Armageddon occurring. This is the perhaps the part I find most offensive.
I am an adult. I am a professional. I am polite. In other words, I am capable of handling myself in a social situation where I may encounter someone I don’t particularly like. The fact that this co-worker doesn’t seem to think so and continues to fuel a battle long forgotten (on my part at least), that didn’t even involve him directly, speaks many more volumes about his lack of maturity, not mine.
I have made some good friends through working at The Agency. But experiences like this one make me want to re-examine some of those bonds. The co-worker in question didn’t invite me to his party (which I realize is his prerogative), but other mutual friends kept completely silent about it even in discussions about weekend plans. I hate to think that I need to detach from certain people, but what else can you do when a friend turns out not to be one after all?
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