Have you ever realized that someone you've known a long time really doesn't know you at all? I've recently had that experience, and it wasn't a lot of fun.

I met Joe about 20 years ago, when he was a volunteer at non-profit agency #1. We've been casual friends all these years. He's lived in another part of the state for a long time now. We'd get together once or twice a year for lunch, and exchange notes off and on.

And I thought I had made my political and religious leanings pretty clear to him over the years. I have, as long as he's known me (and prior to that) been pretty liberal in both areas. And made no secret of it.

A few years ago, Joe joined an ultra-conservative congregation of an already-conservative denomination. That's fine, of course; I believe in religious freedom. But he got weird about trying to convert people to his way of thinking. And he finally did two things that went way too far for me.