Life brings disappointments. Recently several people cancelled on me at the last moment. Different groups of friends, various situations. "People have people problems," said my friend Jeramie in reference to tattoo appointment cancellations. This can be applied to less formal agreements too, and I get it. I get that people aren't bound by contract to arrangements made with others. Shit happens, things come up. I'm more understanding than some people think I am.
Sometimes I feel as though I take commitments more seriously than most people I know. I prefer my word to mean something. Disappointing people isn't what I like to do, because I know how they feel when they get that call, receive that text, read that e-mail. Now that's not to say I'm not occasionally guilty of the same. When it comes down to it though, a track record of not following through with plans really says a lot about someone.
What upsets me more than these cancellations themselves, however, is when friends wait until they are contacted to let me know they aren't going to make it. It's day of, I check in, and they say they can't make it and give some excuse (honest or fabricated), if I'm even that lucky. Sorry, but one doesn't decide they don't want to do x, y or z upon hearing from me. "I wasn't born yesterday," my mom likes to say.
Perhaps I need to learn to let these things roll off my back. Let myself be unphased. But I've tried it, and it doesn't work. Lower my expectationss for friends and family? Maybe that's the next thing to try.
Sometimes I feel as though I take commitments more seriously than most people I know. I prefer my word to mean something. Disappointing people isn't what I like to do, because I know how they feel when they get that call, receive that text, read that e-mail. Now that's not to say I'm not occasionally guilty of the same. When it comes down to it though, a track record of not following through with plans really says a lot about someone.
What upsets me more than these cancellations themselves, however, is when friends wait until they are contacted to let me know they aren't going to make it. It's day of, I check in, and they say they can't make it and give some excuse (honest or fabricated), if I'm even that lucky. Sorry, but one doesn't decide they don't want to do x, y or z upon hearing from me. "I wasn't born yesterday," my mom likes to say.
Perhaps I need to learn to let these things roll off my back. Let myself be unphased. But I've tried it, and it doesn't work. Lower my expectationss for friends and family? Maybe that's the next thing to try.
how do i follow your blog?
ReplyDelete