Where I'm At part II

(standard issue apology for lame blogging inconsistencies)

It's been a long quarter. I'm tired. The last thing I want to do is take more classes, but the raw deal of it is, I get a week off, then get a normal quarter length class (10 weeks) in six. Not too thrilled about that, but I'm sure I'll live.

It'll be a nice summer though, once the class is over. I'm looking forward to working a few days a week, catching up on some computer games, grilling, and hanging out with Nik.


Speaking of Grills... (Ah, the drama)

So, at the beginning of the quarter, a couple of my buddies (Friends A & B for anonymity and simplicity) wanted to borrow our weber mini smokey joe. No problem, right? WRONG. Friend A has a brain fart and forgets where I live and grabs my neighbors grill, and brings it to friend B's house. They proceed to grill. Around 9pm, friend A sent an email to another, non-involved friend, asking what type of grill I had, thinking that maybe they'd snagged the wrong one (I only know this because I happened to see the email, I didn't go looking for it). The next morning, I get a text from Friend B, asking if my grill was still in my patio, which it obviously was.

So, that day we all got a good laugh out of it in class. Once the laughter died down, I asked Friend B, "Hey, you're gonna take it back and apologize, right?". He replied "Nah, I've been wanting a grill, so I think I'm just gonna keep it."

I'm not entirely sure what exactly went through my mind at that moment, but if I had to guess, it'd be some odd cross between "What the Fuck?!?!" and "Like Hell you are!" (Feel free to play magnetic poetry with those seven words) I think I was rather diplomatic about it, saying something in a non commanding tone, not being a jerk about it and trying to let it go.

But "Friend" B had to mess with me.

So, we're out in the vineyard like we always were on Tuesdays this quarter, and it's hot. I brought my own Nalgene and filled it with ice water, and left it near everyone else's stuff. Fuckface (aka Friend B) has the nerve to drink my water, smile at me while I do, and respond to my clearly angry "Dude! Do you mind????" with, "Nope." I didn't do anything that day, but I was kinda frosted by that.

The next day, I didn't say anything in class, but that evening I emailed him this:

(Friend B): Please take the grill back tomorrow, if you haven't already.

I waited until Thursday afternoon to call and check. Naturally he hadn't taken it back. In a short amount of time the conversation elevated to an argument. My problem was that they stole it. He argued that because they didn't mean to steal it, it wasn't stealing, just borrowing. Last I checked, when you go to the bank and "borrow" ten grand and don't give it back, or "borrow" someones car and do whatever the hell you want with it, they call it stealing, and toss your sorry ass in jail. Once I shot his first defense down, he argued that he was too busy to do it. Again, more BS; at most his house is 7 or 8 minutes away, and probably more like 5 door to door. Then he hung up on me (which is one of my major pet peeves).

I called him back and when he ignored my call, let his voicemail have it. I said it like I saw it: He was a coward refusing to do the right thing, that I always felt like I chose the people I call friends to be of good character and perhaps I had misjudged him, and that I loved him.

The next day, he asked for all the stuff he had loaned me back, and that he'd come get it when he brought the grill back. What a bitch move.

When he got his crap, we didn't say anything to each other. I almost wanted to just throw down and kick his ass, but he probably wouldn't have had the balls to fight, since he didn't have enough steel to knock on my neighbors door and explain the situation (which I did after I got off the phone with his voicemail, three days after the grill was "borrowed"). But my father always taught me to be the bigger person and not to stoop to anyone's level, so nothing went down.

The real gem of the situation came about when ex-Friend B, myself, and another non involved friend (but not the one from earlier) were sitting at a table studying for an exam. I was quiet, and the other two were chatting it up. The other dude told some story about his job where someone had stolen something from the company of semi-decent value. Ex-Friend B said in an astonished and completely serious tone:

"Wow. That's really fucked up."

Amen.