Saturday, May 21, 2011

As Much Drama As They Want

An acquaintance of mine posted a Facebook status an hour or so ago stating he is hiding in a corner of a well-known hipster/stoner bar, pepper spray in hand, fearing for his own safety. He says it 'seems like a different lifetime' that he was last able to enjoy going to bars.

If I were a closer friend, I would tell him that if I were him, I would find some other place to be. It's crazy to hang out in some joint where you don't feel safe.

But, being an introvert myself, it's easier for me to avoid those places altogether.

I've known other people who move in his same social circle, and it's all drama, all the time with them. Just a few weeks ago this same acquaintance posted about being ejected from another fairly notorious bar after a dustup, and receiving threatening emails afterward.

I had another, closer friend who frequented these same bars. Her life was a continual series of confrontations and crises. Everywhere she went, it seemed, she was harassed, insulted, intimidated or assaulted — often by total strangers. Not just in bars, either — it happened to her at work, at the mall, at family reunions. She always saw herself as the innocent victim in these incidents. But I told her once, after hearing about the latest outrage against her person, that she had more of these incidents in 90 days than I'd had in my whole life. And it was true.

People have about as much drama in their lives as they want to have.

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