November 21, 2000 Entries Links Communication |
End of a Friendship?I may have ended a friendship today. I finally have had it up to and beyond my eyebrows with Joe, the person I told you about here. Last week, during the time my computer was out and I was using a friend's to check e-mail, I got several notes from Joe, that he had sent to everyone whose e-mail address he had. It was typical right-wing religious stuff. Frankly, I read the first sentence or so of each and deleted them without any reply. That was annoying enough. But even worse was getting replies from one of his right-wing friends who seemed to think that replying to all who got the mail was necessary. That got Joe and his friend having a discussion with each other that we were all expected to witness. (Delete, delete, etc.) I was happy on Friday when I got back online to see that there were no more messages from either of them, and that others on the list had not joined in. This was private e-mail, not a discussion group, just to make that clear. Then came today's drivel from Joe. I call it that because it was a badly-written forwarded piece with a political point that was so conservative the lettering was almost tilting to the right. I deleted it, but not before replying. In my reply, I didn't mention any of the things that had arrived in my inbox. I did say this: This has been an introspective time for me, in some ways. Among other things I have realized is that I am perhaps more liberal now than I was during college---which considering I was fairly liberal then, is not too big a leap! I'm talking more about social things than political, though often the two things are the same. I am glad that I have managed to keep this outlook. That has been a life goal of mine (and will continue to be). And I'm not sure how he'll deal with this. I probably should have stated my feelings in so many words before now. But I really did think he knew how liberal I am---it's not anything I've ever tried to keep secret. I didn't discuss politics (or religion) during the first years I knew him, because I worked at non-profit #1 and kept my politics in my heart, not on my car bumper. But my liberal leanings were not hard to discern, either. I have given him no reason over the years to conclude that I had become more conservative. I will miss him if I don't hear from him again. But I do not want any more of his religious, political blather showing up in my inbox. Saundra got some really nice news today....check both of her November 21 entries for details, then send her congratulations!
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