Here is the story. Today was a friend’s birthday. I had to work all day and so I could only give him his present in the evening. When I got out of work by 6, I hopped onto my bike and raced from the far-end of campus to the front to pick-up my custom-made birthday present. Last night I came up with a lame excuse to make sure he was available, and so we agreed to meet at 6:30. I know the time might not be very convenient and so I confirmed the appointment again at 3 in the afternoon, but still, he showed no sign of being occupied. And therefore, although 6:30 was a bit inconvenient for me, I rode at top speed in worry that I would delay his evening plans. I weaved my way through all the students that just got out of class, pedaling furiously while at the same time slamming the brakes to avoid collision. And for the first time in my studies in NTU, I even had my first bicycle accident—I ran into two women on a bike. If you ask me, it was definitely their fault. They were riding on their left side of the road, and when they panicked they all of a sudden decided that they wanted to abide by COMMON SENSE and turn to the right, unfortunately it was too late and we still bumped into each other. Nothing serious, luckily. I apologized, while they made cold remarks. But I was in too much of a hurry to care. I jumped back onto my bike and sped to his research lab-- and even got there five minutes early! Yay! But when I called to ask where he was, he said he was having dinner with friends and asked if I wanted to join them…. “It’s his birthday, it’s his birthday,” I kept telling myself as I politely turned down his offer (which was probably out of “politeness,” also). After all, I had a free Christmas dinner waiting for me anyways. It also started at 6:30, but if I hurry, I shouldn’t be too late, right? Wrong!! When I got there, the food was nearly all gone. All that was left was fried rice. (I hate fried rice….) After I stuffed down the fried rice, took part in some of the games, it was 8 when I called again and asked when he would be free. (My original plan was to leave right after dinner.) He answered “soon” and said, “I’ll call you back later.” It was 9 when I finally couldn’t stand wasting any more of my time and decided to just throw the gift on his table and went home. I was furious! What the f**k have I been trying so hard for? I got in an accident, worked up a sweat, missed my free dinner, wasted my time, and for what? He doesn’t even care! I feel completely disrespected! Am I overreacting? How would you feel if you were stood up by a “friend?” I can tolerate people being late, or even oversleeping (which in his case is not very uncommon), but being deliberately ignored is another story! It just goes to show his lack of respect for my time and of me as a friend. And to tell the truth, it isn’t the first time I’ve felt this way around him. I’m a nice guy, I really am, but that doesn’t mean that I enjoy being walked-over. When I got home, the first thing I did was delete him from my msn contacts list. It’s not that I don’t have people I despise on my contacts list, (they even have their own group-name!) but they were there to begin with. And at this moment, I just don’t want to see his name. Maybe sooner or later, I’ll be able to add him back to my contacts and place him in that group, but by then he wouldn’t be my friend…. Ironic, that the customized birthday gift turned out to be the monument of the end of our friendship. --

※ 發信站: 批踢踢實業坊(ptt.cc) ◆ From: 123.194.144.83 ※ 編輯: army 來自: 123.194.144.83 (12/26 23:26)