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i'm such an idiot
 

offline surrounded from it won't be hard anymore to li on 2002-07-27 05:49 [#00326706]
Points: 3787 Status: Regular



So yesterday i got a telephone-call from a friend. We've
been like penpals for a while now. Only i haven't been very
loyal... i would always just forget to write to her (well
not "forget"... but when you've got other things to do as
well you think: "i'll write tomorrow", and then the next day
you think the same thing, and days become weeks... and
suddenly you get one of those postcards that say: "are you
still alive?" etc... but okay, this is not so important, we
are penpals, and we've met like maybe 2 times in real life
before). So yesterday she called me and asked if i would
come over. She was in the middle of moving to another
appartment she said, and needed some help moving the heavy
things. I had a day off from work, so i got on the train 15
minutes later.

But when i got there, well we DID re-arrange some heavy
furniture in her new place, but it was like 5 minutes work,
and nothing she couldn't have done on her own. Clearly just
an excuse for getting me to come over. And then she said her
dog needed to take his walk. So we started making a
loooooong walk through the city where she lives. And
suddenly she starts talking about all her problems... i mean
i know her life has sometimes been difficult, but this time
she REALLY opened up. She told me when she was very young
she caught her father molesting her older sister... and how
a few years later her brother did the same thing to herself
(to my friend, not her sister). And now she suspects that
her brother is molesting his own children. Also her mother
was always telling my friend what a worthless child she was
and how she wished she would have never been born. And then
my friend said: "well they can all go to hell, my family is
dead to me anyway".

And really... i wasn't able to say anything :-s
It is difficult enough for me to engage in a normal
conversation already. But this was so heavy and she was
being so honest and i... i just totally froze. In my head i
formed loads of sentences i should have said, but all i
could mumble were things


 

offline surrounded from it won't be hard anymore to li on 2002-07-27 05:50 [#00326709]
Points: 3787 Status: Regular



And really... i wasn't able to say anything :-s
It is difficult enough for me to engage in a normal
conversation already. But this was so heavy and she was
being so honest and i... i just totally froze. In my head i
formed loads of sentences i should have said, but all i
could mumble were things like "oh my god" and "how
terrible"

She told me she was also being treated by sort of a
psychiatrist, and was actually on medication. Pills to
supress her depression... don't know how they're exactly
called. But basically those social workers cannot help her
at all. They want her to to live on her own, so they gave
her this appartment in the worst part of town. She's had
gunfights happen right in front of her window :-(
She said: "living her would be enough to make anyone
depressed, i can't understand how they (psychiatrists) make
me live here". It happened 4 times already that she took all
her pills at the same time... you know, to commit suicide.
And she was telling me this... and i had no idea what to do.
I wanted to say something that would help her, be there for
her... but i didn't know how. She was almost crying, and all
i could do was walk there.

On her way over to the psychiatrist that morning she
apparantly tripped and fell over, and so the leash from her
dog slipped out of her hand, and her dog almost got run over
by a car... it stopped like a few centimeters in front of
her dog... "so i came there almost hysterical, i was very
upset. And she (psychiatrist) could only say how terrible it
was, she didn't even put her arm around me. Don't you think
she should have comforted me?" And i was thinking: "oh
god... i really should hold her now, i must comfort her"...
but i just couldn't :-s
No-one ever told me how to do that. I felt so bad for her
but my body just wouldn't cooperate with my brain... instead
i just said: "how terrible"...damnit.


 

offline surrounded from it won't be hard anymore to li on 2002-07-27 05:51 [#00326711]
Points: 3787 Status: Regular



And what i wrote here isn't even half of what she told me.
If she would have told me in a letter i wouldn't have
believed so much bad things had happened to her. But
yesterday i could tell from her face that she wan't making
any of this up.

The last part of the walk she didn't say anything anymore.
And i didn't know what to tell her... there was a really
oncomfortable silence for a few minutes and then we arrived
back at her house. She said: "maybe you should go now" and
then as she walked in and turned around... i just sorta
smiled to her and all i could say was: "okay, i'll write to
you, okay?".

I really hate myself sometimes... there were so many things
i could and should have said. And she obviously needed
someone to talk to. I'm always kinda shy, but i wish i
wouldn't have been yesterday :-s Sigh. I don't know why I'm
writing all this down here... at least i got it of my chest
now. And i have to get to work now anyway. So...bye.



 

offline Zephyr Twin from ΔΔΔ on 2002-07-27 05:52 [#00326712]
Points: 16982 Status: Regular | Show recordbag



I know exactly what you mean, I have 2 female friends who
have been in similar situations, just different problems.

It really is hard to know what to say, I didn't really
either.


 

offline Zephyr Twin from ΔΔΔ on 2002-07-27 05:54 [#00326717]
Points: 16982 Status: Regular | Show recordbag



I think you should meet up with her again and try to work
things out, but u have to be prepared to comfort her,
because that's what she probably really needs.


 

offline w M w from London (United Kingdom) on 2002-07-27 06:00 [#00326727]
Points: 21427 Status: Regular



Explain yourself in writing later (awkward inability to
behave socially/comforting). And tell her that her miserable
existence allows others feel happier relative to her. Read
about overpopulation and pollution extinction of species and
other depressing things to reinforce an already miserable
world view.


 

offline brendan ether from the beach (obx, NC) (United States) on 2002-07-27 06:06 [#00326738]
Points: 796 Status: Addict | Followup to w M w: #00326727



heh... why? just to reiterate the fact that 'he's such an
idiot'? ;-)


 

offline brendan ether from the beach (obx, NC) (United States) on 2002-07-27 06:07 [#00326739]
Points: 796 Status: Addict | Followup to Zephyr Twin: #00326717



i miss the double-headed feline!!! =(


 

offline flea from depths of your mind (New Zealand) on 2002-07-27 06:58 [#00326791]
Points: 9083 Status: Regular



idiot..really?..no..come on..okay only if you insist
then..and we will review the stuation in a few weeks to
check for trace elements of your supposed idiocy...bed rest
and no alcohol in the mean while..


 

offline SwitchFrontside on 2002-07-27 07:47 [#00326823]
Points: 818 Status: Regular



weird..... she must have no friends apart from you... and
she is suicidal.... she should say something about that guy
that fucks his kids cause thats fucking discusting and the
kids will end up either commiting suicide or killing or
molesting people or kids when they grow older....



 

offline AMinal from Toronto (Canada) on 2002-07-27 08:44 [#00326869]
Points: 3476 Status: Regular



wow it sounds like she was really desperate for someone


 

offline jand from Braintree (United Kingdom) on 2002-07-27 08:56 [#00326874]
Points: 5975 Status: Moderator | Show recordbag



Sounds to me as if she just needs someone to talk/a shoulder
to cry on...she sounds real isolated which is kinda
dangerous as she's obviously very distressed...

If I were you, I'd make the effort to phone her every few
days and just listen to her...

And no need to feel an idiot, mate...you sound like you did
the right thing by going over & visiting her; that probably
mean't a lot to her...

let us know how it goes...


 

offline AMinal from Toronto (Canada) on 2002-07-27 09:01 [#00326880]
Points: 3476 Status: Regular



but dont let urself be trapped..... sucked in to her
problems
dont let her take u hostage

and thats not selfish...... remember that it wouldn't help
her either, she needs serious professional help


 

offline surrounded from it won't be hard anymore to li on 2002-07-28 11:48 [#00327951]
Points: 3787 Status: Regular



Thanks you guys...!

Zephyr Twin... it's good to know you didn't really know how
to react either. Not to be mean, but it's just a comforting
thought that i'm not the only one :-)
And yes the next time i meet up with her it'll be different
i hope... i was just too shocked friday. Next time i will
know what to expect and it will be easier (i hope!) i really
want to comfort her if i can.

wMw... eh... as strange as it may sound, your post did
actually help me :-p
I just finished writing her a letter explaining... well...
pretty much what i wrote in this thread. It's like i wrote
everything i couldn't say. I'm putting it in the mail later
this day, so she'll read it tomorrow. And then i'll probably
telephone her tomorrownight (if i can find the courage).

i don't think i am her only friend... but she did say how
lots have people have abandoned her... or said they would
call and never did... things like that. I really don't want
to become one of them :-( I think she really needs to feel
there is someone she can trust.


 

offline surrounded from it won't be hard anymore to li on 2002-07-28 11:48 [#00327952]
Points: 3787 Status: Regular



And thank you also Jand :-) Reading all yr replies had made
me feel better. I really hope it did her some good that i
came over yesterday (rather than that i just made things
worse!).

I've heard people say so many times before that it's often
just enough if someone will listen to you if you're upset.
But now that's it's actually happened i'm still thinking
"how could it help if someone just listens?" hehe... the
theory always sounds nice until you actually run into a
situation :-/

Anyway, i'll let you know what happens.

I had thought the same thing AMinal... indeed i've got to be
careful as to not let her lean on me *too* much, as it
wouldn't do either one of us any good. But thanks man :-)
It's nice to have you take me seriously and thinking with
me. She is already receiving serious professional help... i
do hope those people know what they are doing


 

offline Ctrl Alt Del from Ft. Worth (United States) on 2002-07-28 12:00 [#00327959]
Points: 2190 Status: Lurker



shit is fucked, very fucked.

i woulda probably just have done the same thing in your
situation though....


 

offline pOgO from behind your belly button fluff on 2002-07-28 12:03 [#00327962]
Points: 12687 Status: Lurker



at the end of the day she probably just wants to know that
theres at least SOMEONE there she can talk to. Talking,
getting it all of your chest is a relief in itself, and I
think you did more for her that you realize.

If you just explain to her next time you see her that you
were just totaly shocked by what she said she'll understand.
It's alot to offload on someone in just one day.

Take her out, be her mate, help her to try and forget it all
even for just a few minutes, that's all you can you do and
maybe that's all she wants. and if YOU ever need to chat
you've got us.

We need to hear other peoples problems to remind us that
we're normal =oD


 

offline surrounded from it won't be hard anymore to li on 2002-07-28 13:50 [#00327985]
Points: 3787 Status: Regular



thanks pOgO :-)
i was quite curious for a "female perspective" on this
situation ;-) And it's good to read your post!

tmakes me happy to see that no-one thought i handled it
totally wrong. So i'll just try to be a friend to her now.
Yeah, it are the holidays, we could probably go on some
daytrips the next couple of week. Thnx for the advice :-)

By the way i wouldn't consider myself to be normal ;-) But
everyone can judge for him/herself whether they are:-p


 

offline pOgO from behind your belly button fluff on 2002-07-28 13:59 [#00327987]
Points: 12687 Status: Lurker | Followup to surrounded: #00327985



heh

George looks happy anyway ;o,


 


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