My wife and I got invited to a "friends" house two days ago. Truthfully these friends of ours are quickly becoming part of my personal list of "persona non grata". But, I tried to be a good neighbor, a good friend, and accepted the invite.
It started bad and it ended worse. The truth is that I don't know why I keep on trying. I mean, this person, who for the sake of making this entry simple, I will refer to as Leon (not his real name); has shown so many times that he is someone without code. He's shown his true colors over and over, and I keep on thinking maybe I'm not understanding his true intentions.
At any rate, aside from the fact that he decided not to say hi to us, but rather lounge in his chair and stare at this phone; Should have told me to leave right away, but I didn't. Obviously that's on me.
The rest of the night, while I was trying to have conversations with other guests, Leon made it his life's mission to contradict me, put me down, and repeat over and over the phrase "All you have are opinions, I have a degree, I get paid to speak, you don't".
It must have been the 30th time he was singing the same chorus, when I felt the vein in my forehead twitch a bit. You see, I'm too old to get into fights with idiots, but I'm also not made of stone. Maybe, a younger version of MenO would have thrown a punch, but I did the only sensible thing and left.
My wife, oblivious to Leon's aggressions was a bit confused by my premature exodus, but when I explained what was happening to her in the car we both agreed eliminating them from our lives is probably best.
Still, I mean. Yes, I know Leon is arrogant, I know he can be narcissistic, but... What was he trying to do? Why invite me over and then discredit everything I say with ad hominem insults.
This might be the only question I don't have an answer to, and only because the simple explanation would be so childish, so stupid, I can't accept there's a 50+ year old man who thinks like this. A grown ass man who decided to take revenge on me?
I should say, he bought a guitar from me and never paid me in full. So maybe I'm reading this all wrong and all he's trying to do is avoid paying his debt.
At any rate... I'm done. My peace is my most precious possession, and I won't let this guy affect it in any way.
MenO
My effort to depend on goodwill to provide my economic sustenance has required me to sort those I can do business with from those I cannot, and I have learned that I must respect the signals I am given by folks I seek to include in my economic network. The signal that folks will not fulfill their obligations reveals that I can not include them in my network in order to avoid economic harm that results from including those people. Some people can't afford goodwill, and failing to meet obligations demonstrates they cannot afford goodwill.
Excluding them from my economic network avoids losses that reduce my wealth, which optimizes my economic prosperity, as well as my social interactions, which is good.
Thanks!
its time to cut some people out of my life, I guess.