Frustrating...
She's like the fable "The boy who cried wolf". And one of these days, something is really genuinely going to be wrong with her and then nobody is going to pay attention, no one will care, no one will listen, and not one single person is going to believe her.
Those of you who know me, probably know exactly who I'm talking about.
Those of you who don't know me really well, probably know someone who is exactly like this.
And doesn't it put ya right smack dab in the middle of a moral dilemma? It's one of those situations where I have no idea how far sympathetic human kindness is supposed to go. Should I take the time each and every day to ask "How are you feeling?" or "What happened?" only to spend 15 depressing minutes listening to how horrible her life is, how terrible the health of her family, how devoid of joy the world around her has turned out to be? Should I pretend to be interested? I suppose I shouldn't pretend, I should genuinely be concerned - if for nothing else, for the state of her mental health. For we have all learned that almost all of these ailments are nothing short of a sad effort to gain attention.
Unfortunately though, I have learned to ignore the daily ailments. I turn a blind eye to the fake coughs and the "oh so terrible migraine headaches" (trust me, I have migraines and I wouldn't be functioning like that if I had a migraine so I'm sorry, but it's hard to believe you), the moaning and groaning, the numerous diseases (and when I say numerous, I mean numerous), the extreme depression, the "mine is worse than yours" syndrome, etc. I could go on and on.
I wonder how all of this started? Childhood perhaps? Was that the only way she ever got any attention - when she was sick? Was someone always telling her she was no good and now that's what she believes? What does a person gain from this type of behaviour?
And seriously, one day something's going to go very wrong. There's going to be a real problem to deal with and then when I don't believe it, I'm going to feel so guilty. I'm going to feel like I should have listened, should have helped out. My conscience is plagued with the thought of it. I'm sure it'll pass...sad to say...but in the meantime, just had to get my thoughts out and allow you a moment to delve into my evil "should really have an easier time being nice" psyche.
2 comments:
It is a hard situation. But there comes a point as an adult that you can "choose" not to be a victim and to not let your past be what decides who you are.
I know many people exactly like this-it is very frustrating and annoying. Unfortunately,the people who are truly sick usually keep it to themselves.
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