A former good friend has contacted me, but he burned the friendship bridge with me and my crowd over two decades ago. We have only seen each other/spoken once since 2002, and only then because we had been seated near each other (with our ladies) at an Alice Cooper concert. And then, I was just being polite. He deserted the “circle of friends” we belonged to when a couple of the friends ended up with some serious personal issues that he didn’t want to know about, accept, or deal with. So he ghosted everyone and then violated their privacy by telling tales around town. Flash forward to now, and this guy gives a mutual friend of ours his info and has the mutual friend give it to me. Once again, to be polite, I text him to see what’s happening. He calls me and gives me the story: he is now going through the exact same crisis that his ghosted friends needed his support with 22 years ago. I was sympathetic but I am still at a loss at his gall. I am thinking about ghosting him as he did to all of our crowd 22 years ago. But, honestly? I would not do it out of spite, but because my current life and lifestyle doesn’t allow much room for anyone else right now. I have grandchildren and great grandchildren that want to learn to play and read music, and I want to spoil them all. I also run a couple of small businesses that require lots of focus and a good chunk of time. And I have a gf and a house to take care of. The point is, I have moved on and I have gotten quite comfortable with this dude long gone from my crowd. I hate to be the jerk in the situation, but I think I’m ghosting the dude. This guy was a hanger-on for one of my bands and my 1990’s production company, and we all had a great time. But I have moved onward and upward. To make it even weirder, I am the only person in the group that he’s contacted. Why not someone else? I feel bad for the guy, but I am just not interested in being his friend.
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