i hate mean people

Longhorn in the Texas Hill Country
Copyright (c) 2006 Wendee Holtcamp

This is the question I have, why are people mean and critical? I just don't get it why people that are supposed to be your friends do that sometimes. I guess the question is, how long do you hang onto a friend that is consistently that way? I believe in forgiving people, I mean I really do. I like to work through issues and move forward. But I just do not comprehend why people send out stupid mean email stuff and then don't understand why it is obnoxious. And why do I keep trying to be friends with these people? It's like that old tale about going across the river on a crocodile's back and getting bitten. Well duh you knew it was a crocodile!

My friend wrote a post on friends today on her blog, One Breath a Time that totally resonated with me. Yes! These are 99.9% of the friends I have. Why isn't everyone this way?

My definition of a friend is someone I care about- a lot (so of course it's someone one I know). A friend is someone on whom I can call --- for anything -- and know that this person will help me, willingly and without keeping an account of how many times I've asked. A friend is someone for whom I would do the same. A friend is someone I support and encourage and who does the same --- no matter how far apart we are, how many times a month we talk with each other, how much we share -- or don't share -- our feelings. No. Matter.

If you want to be friends with someone, you just let them be themselves. You listen, you share. You care. You're nice. You don't say rude things and when someone says you're being mean you apologize. And you ask how you do better. It's not that hard, really, people!

And with that thought, after I finished pilates I called my friend Georgia and said I had a bad day. Do you wanna go get a rita and chips? And she said yes. So I'm going now!