Say What? And Thank God

Oh, Los Angeles and adulthood makes for some very interesting scenarios.  People come in and out of your life on a whim and in a way I have been trained to expect anything.  They don't tell ya this stuff when you're a kid.  You just meet your neighborhood friends at the sandbox, make some mud pies (I was on the front page of the newspaper once for this) and call it a day.  And the same thing usually happens the next day.   There was never any agenda and then you grow up.

I remember making new friends with this woman and her husband.  They were my customers when I worked at the Formosa Cafe.  A week after I met them, I was at their wedding.  It was a trip and she was very sweet.  Syrupy sweet.  We used to laugh all of the time.  I should've known that something might be rotten in Denmark when she asked me if I was just hanging out with her because she was an actress.  I was taken aback and in the moment I was stumped for words.  Newsflash, I was an actress too I just wasn't making as much money as her.  She should of just said are you hanging out with me because I make more money than you.  Weird.  I wanted to grab my shovel and high tail it outta that sandbox right then and there but I lingered and it got worse.  Every time I would go over to her house she would have me run an errand.  I couldn't figure out why I was so exhausted when I hung out with her.  Then I had my light bulb moment and realized I was working for the friendship.  Sometimes straight up manual labor.  Guess I didn't think I was enough, so I just did and did and outdid myself.

If only I knew then what I know now.  Yada, yada, yada.  That friendship was built on sand.  No foundation. Wishy washy and conditional.  The straw that broke the camels back was when she stopped calling me.  Cut off.  No explanation.  Five years of "friendship" down the drain.  It was sketchy and relieving at the same time.  It was so hard to be her friend.  It was like having a second job.  So life has a way of working itself out and eventually I found some new friends.  The clincher was something that happened last week.  My friends neighbor goes to school with the conditional friend's son.  When we put two and two together my friend told the son that he knew me.  The son said that his parents stopped talking to me because I didn't help them out enough.  Can you believe it!?  I chuckled.  And then I felt good.  Good riddance.  I learned so much from that experience.  There are so many takers in this world.  It's so important to find those with kind hearts and tender smiles.

 Well, I'm back in the sandbox, making mud pies again.  No conditions.  I take my time and I don't have to stop off and get my friends their ingredients.  They come equipped with their own.