UnfortunateGaul :
My own family too. We have these occasional meetings and everyone (there's seven of us) get an opportunity to speak; we air out our grievances and move on, it's therapeutic and has largely helped our family. Everyone talks, and I let my younger siblings go first, and like our parents spoke first anyway, but every time, maybe everyone is just tired after so long, and I swear I am not speaking any more words than anyone else, but I'm asked to wrap it up. every time. so I get a few sentences out and it's suddenly time to conclude the ritual with going out to eat to laugh and bond, but the whole time I was unfulfilled. I never got that complaint at work, in college doing speeches or essays or just chatting with classmates. This example is prime, but I'm also still part of the weird outliers who don't use my phone in conversation with someone I'm present with. If I'm talking to you, don't you and I both deserve our undivided attention? I get some people are on the clock all the time!! Not you guys!! A huge problem for me is that I actually miss this until way later when I'm ruminating on the conversation at bedtime too. They make their problems seem so much bigger than mine could possibly be, and I always assume they ARE. My personal worst one, slightly tangentially, was that I seriously thought I was part of a trio of solo moms of solo sons, right, and I would watch their boys all the time, helped them clean their homes, walked their dogs, helped them bath and give medicine to their sick and vengeful felines, among so many other things. These two asked me to watch the boys overnight, sleepover, easy, they entertain each other, no problem. I get a notification on both snap and insta that they were both at a rave concert thing, just a couple towns over while I was guarding their children with my life. And they didn't even ask me. When I asked them the next day, they said because I was a lot older than them, they assumed I was not into that stuff. I am 5 years older 😑 They were the last girlfriends with "common interests" I attempted to make about 4 years ago now. I must have the best friend factor deficiency. 🤷♀️
2026-09-27 13:03:38