Fair Weather Friends

For years online it seemed I had a good friend, who used to also phone call and chat with me often. It was great to have some company on the phone, especially since I was feeling so isolated, stuck in this one room since I moved, and when the pandemic started cutting off all outside interaction. 

I had started doing Facebook in 2017, however, and at least got to reconnect there with some youth-time peeps I was missing, and great school comrades. They will always be my friends no matter what. We all have similar beliefs and come from similar circumstances.

 When this online buddy would call, I'd drop everything to spend that time with them. I was a good listener, and allowed alot of opinions I did not actually agree with to go with my points un-argued, or tried to agree to disagree. They did always think their opinion was the only correct one.

Through my parents and Parochial school, I was raised to be tolerant of all different culture ethnicities and religions. I was taught diversity was an asset to finding solutions, and found many friends from other ethnicities to be wonderful people. Also I accept people who have different sexual orientation. Everyone is an equality deserving unique person to me.

So many things this friend person expressed about others were not taken well by me, that if I were actual in person hanging out with them, would have caused me to break off that friendship. But I kept an open mind, that this person needed someone to hear what they said validated, and had little other emotional support. Also they had found out a life-altering medical problem.

Add on top of all that some deeply emotional political viewpoints supporting many conspiracy theories. Oh yes, every story needs to be pulled apart and disproven with online sources at our fingertips. Kennedy's assassin was not who they said, men faked that moon landing scene on a stage set, and Jewish bankers were responsible for the 911 crashes and the towers tumbling down were from demolition bomb charges to collect insurance funds. 

I have a cousin with similar views, like JFK Jr is still alive...

But I disagree about the moon thing. And definitely do not think Jewish, Black, Indigenous, or homosexuals deserve to not be treated as equals, or spoken badly about as a group. This guy thought the white man race and place he was born into was better. I broke up with guys over the type of things this one would say.

 Also he was old-fashioned about women's place in society, and gender roles. Females should be subservient. It so happens I have been a tomboy libber doing men stuff my whole life, and being underpaid for it to boot. 

Point being that I listened to all this high and mighty BS and disagreed with it all, but allowed the person their opinion for many years, while mine was not even considered. Friendship is supposed to be a give and take situation, and I did my part by listening. When I got to a point where I was having problems dealing with people who live here, really needed to tell someone, he didn't want to hear about anything that was troubling me. The call was over. 

Then he didn't want to call anymore, and hasn't. So after all the caring about his problems and struggles, he couldn't listen to one of  mine at a very low point I got to. I have no idea how he is doing, and guess I shouldn't even care. Of course to him, only his issues matter. he can't be bothered to listen or help about mine. Better to just disconnect and stop being a friend who really knows you. 

Well if you are reading me old, one-way friend, I disagree with what you think about politics, different types of people, women, and what you think friends are for.

 I should have ditched you way back there...