Here's something you might be interested in.
I know, with a title like that, this can go in any direction.
But, a few things recently have gotten me thinking about my friends and some dumb things they do.
I have a friend name Bob that's a horrible driver. Luckily, I'm hardly ever in the car with him. My stepbrother is a lot more than I.
He'll signal about a mile before he's turning into a parking lot. Some would say that's better than the person that doesn't signal. The problem is, cars then pull out in front of him, because he's signaled so early; the lot a car is coming out of is now assuming he's going to be turning into. The lot he wants is still a few away. Not sure why he felt the need to signal so far in advance.
On the freeway, he'll drift over into other lanes. And this is when he's not on his cell phone. Those are a few of many bad driving habits he has.
At least my stepbrother and I tell him. Most people don't tell their friends when they do stupid stuff. And I'm not sure why. You can do it nicely. It's how people learn. I hope.
When I was with my a few female friends at Comic Con, they told me about a maid they fired that was stealing from them. They found her after seeing an ad in the newspaper. She had mentioned they were the first job she had cleaning. So, Myrna then hooked her up with a job each day of the week, with various friends and relatives of hers. And, how did this maid repay her? By stealing her stuff.
At first, Myrna wasn't sure. She has a lot of stuff everywhere, and her place can get messy. But when her mom reported a ring missing (that Myrna made her, with rubbies and sapphires), they figured it was was the maid. Oh, when they told the maid not to throw magazines and books away because they sometimes leave money and other important things in them...the maid was always seen "dusting" the books.
The maid showed up a few months later with her young daughter in tow. The daughter was wearing the moms ring.
And, here is where my friend did the stupidest thing ever. She did absolutely nothing about it. I asked why. She said her mom didn't want to make the kid feel awkward. Okay, that's fine. Pull the adult aside and tell her to quietly get the ring from her daughter, or you'd call the police.
Instead, they did nothing. Aside from never bringing her back to their house. I said to them, "Did you tell your friends, so they know they have a maid working for them that's a thief?" Myrna said, "No. They keep their jewelry locked up, so they're probably pretty safe."
Insane. I wanted to get her friends phone numbers, so I could call them. I wanted to get the maids phone number, so I could get the ring back. But I'm tired of fighting other peoples battles. And, it's hard to get motivated to do that, when they don't even seem to care if they get the ring back or not.
I had another friend 15 years ago. She had a best friend who she had known for 25 years, who stole $250 from her house. And some food from the fridge. At first the woman denied it. Then she admitted to taking the food, but not the money (even though she's the only one that knew where in the room the money was hidden, and had just admitted to being yelled at by her husband for spending too much money). They didn't talk for two weeks, but then they were back to being best friends again. I asked her how that could be. She said, "It's not worth losing a best friend over such a small amount of money."
A small amount of money!!! $250 is a lot of money, unless you're Donald Trump. And, even if it was 50 cents, if my friend stole it from me, they're no longer my friend. Unless they admit to being a clepto or something. I've lent friends hundreds of dollars. I've given friends twenty bucks, or picked up a check, and not worried about it. Someone could be over at my house, and they want to mail a package. I'll give them a handful of stamps. But, if I was in the bathroom and walked out and saw them stealing those same stamps -- they either get an asskicking, or the friendships over (I guess that depends on if they're bigger than me).
She could've told this friend she needed to make payments. She could've called the cops. She could've done so many things. But, like most people...they never want to confront their friends, when they do stupid things.
Like talking in the movie theatres. I've told friends, "Can you tell me later, I'm trying to hear the movie."
What I really want to say is "Shut the f**** up. People are going to get annoyed at you talking so much." In fact, when I buy Red Vines, I make sure I don't even open them until there's a loud scene in the movie, so the wrapper isn't annoying the person sitting directly in front of me. If my friend is spending 10 minutes trying to open their candy, I'll lean in and ask if they need to borrow my keys. Or, I'll snatch it from them. Open it quickly. And hand it back.
You can be more polite when you point out your friends flaws.
But they should be pointed out.
I know, with a title like that, this can go in any direction.
But, a few things recently have gotten me thinking about my friends and some dumb things they do.
I have a friend name Bob that's a horrible driver. Luckily, I'm hardly ever in the car with him. My stepbrother is a lot more than I.
He'll signal about a mile before he's turning into a parking lot. Some would say that's better than the person that doesn't signal. The problem is, cars then pull out in front of him, because he's signaled so early; the lot a car is coming out of is now assuming he's going to be turning into. The lot he wants is still a few away. Not sure why he felt the need to signal so far in advance.
On the freeway, he'll drift over into other lanes. And this is when he's not on his cell phone. Those are a few of many bad driving habits he has.
At least my stepbrother and I tell him. Most people don't tell their friends when they do stupid stuff. And I'm not sure why. You can do it nicely. It's how people learn. I hope.
When I was with my a few female friends at Comic Con, they told me about a maid they fired that was stealing from them. They found her after seeing an ad in the newspaper. She had mentioned they were the first job she had cleaning. So, Myrna then hooked her up with a job each day of the week, with various friends and relatives of hers. And, how did this maid repay her? By stealing her stuff.
At first, Myrna wasn't sure. She has a lot of stuff everywhere, and her place can get messy. But when her mom reported a ring missing (that Myrna made her, with rubbies and sapphires), they figured it was was the maid. Oh, when they told the maid not to throw magazines and books away because they sometimes leave money and other important things in them...the maid was always seen "dusting" the books.
The maid showed up a few months later with her young daughter in tow. The daughter was wearing the moms ring.
And, here is where my friend did the stupidest thing ever. She did absolutely nothing about it. I asked why. She said her mom didn't want to make the kid feel awkward. Okay, that's fine. Pull the adult aside and tell her to quietly get the ring from her daughter, or you'd call the police.
Instead, they did nothing. Aside from never bringing her back to their house. I said to them, "Did you tell your friends, so they know they have a maid working for them that's a thief?" Myrna said, "No. They keep their jewelry locked up, so they're probably pretty safe."
Insane. I wanted to get her friends phone numbers, so I could call them. I wanted to get the maids phone number, so I could get the ring back. But I'm tired of fighting other peoples battles. And, it's hard to get motivated to do that, when they don't even seem to care if they get the ring back or not.
I had another friend 15 years ago. She had a best friend who she had known for 25 years, who stole $250 from her house. And some food from the fridge. At first the woman denied it. Then she admitted to taking the food, but not the money (even though she's the only one that knew where in the room the money was hidden, and had just admitted to being yelled at by her husband for spending too much money). They didn't talk for two weeks, but then they were back to being best friends again. I asked her how that could be. She said, "It's not worth losing a best friend over such a small amount of money."
A small amount of money!!! $250 is a lot of money, unless you're Donald Trump. And, even if it was 50 cents, if my friend stole it from me, they're no longer my friend. Unless they admit to being a clepto or something. I've lent friends hundreds of dollars. I've given friends twenty bucks, or picked up a check, and not worried about it. Someone could be over at my house, and they want to mail a package. I'll give them a handful of stamps. But, if I was in the bathroom and walked out and saw them stealing those same stamps -- they either get an asskicking, or the friendships over (I guess that depends on if they're bigger than me).
She could've told this friend she needed to make payments. She could've called the cops. She could've done so many things. But, like most people...they never want to confront their friends, when they do stupid things.
Like talking in the movie theatres. I've told friends, "Can you tell me later, I'm trying to hear the movie."
What I really want to say is "Shut the f**** up. People are going to get annoyed at you talking so much." In fact, when I buy Red Vines, I make sure I don't even open them until there's a loud scene in the movie, so the wrapper isn't annoying the person sitting directly in front of me. If my friend is spending 10 minutes trying to open their candy, I'll lean in and ask if they need to borrow my keys. Or, I'll snatch it from them. Open it quickly. And hand it back.
You can be more polite when you point out your friends flaws.
But they should be pointed out.