(no subject)

[tanaise]

Only children never really learn that there are times they aren't welcome. Well, not all of them, of course. But it seems to be something that's harder for them to pick up than other people. We were talking about this recently. One of our friends at the wedding is just awful at inviting herself along on things--she invited herself into our car for the drive up, and along to a party that she wasn't really wanted at. And she's utterly impervious to etiquette. She invites herself along in our car, doesn't give us directions till we threaten to not pick her up, says, when she gives us the directions, that she already told us to look them up at mapquest. as if it would be that freaking hard to get them herself and make the appropriate notes. Which is what I do. Didn't give money for gas. offered it, but never actually gave it. She tells stories all the time that, when you can be bothered to pay attention, turn out to be all about her, and phrased in such a way that she's *so* smart and *so* special and *so* cool, and really, she's not. I mean, she's not stupid and all that, she's just not any more smart, special, or cool than the rest of us, esp as what she's thinking makes her so cool are really the same stuff as makes the rest of us cool--study abroad, post-graduate work, a sport she's really good at. All of us have at least some of that in common with her, so we find her boring. And a ridiculous number of her stories are about college--I really hope she's got conversations for other people, but I doubt it. I managed to spend alot of the reception talking with two people I went to college with, and really, college discussions were minimal. We talked about people we'd known in college, but mostly about things in those people's lives since we graduated, not while in college. It's been three years--I loved it dearly while I was there, and I would love to find that sense of community again, but still, it was three years ago, I've moved on. I have other things in my life now.