Honesty

Anyone who knows me knows that I have certain expectations. Not high standards, by any means, just a set of expectations. Most of them go along the lines of "treat others the way you would choose to be treated" golden rule. I say "most" because I am realistic and have lowered my expectations because of my past unfortunate experiences.

Yes, it really is that simple.

I'm not expecting perfect actions all the time. Not even on a regular basis. I expect you to mess up. And when you do mess up, just be honest about it. Too simple to explain to some people, I guess.

Lately, I've had people (friends, acquaintances, even strangers) approach me to ask me a personal question of some kind. All of these approaches have gone something like this:

Them: Hey, can I ask you a question?

Me: Sure?

Then: Are you going to be honest?

Me: *blank stare*

I've adopted a canned response to this particular type of inquiry: Yes, I will be honest. I don't live my life in a way that requires me to lie or hide things from people. If it's too personal of a question, I'll tell you I'm not comfortable answering, but otherwise my answer will be the 100% truth.

Take this as you will. Comment as you wish.
After all, it's just punctuated graffiti.
~A

Respectful Friends.

New people take me by surprise. Often because I didn't realize that people would become so comfortable with me that they treat me like we've known each other forever. But also because I'm not used to friendships that aren't the same as the ones I've had since high school...

Talking about being sober often surprises people. Especially when I just met a group of new people at a bar. And bought a round of shots for them. I do have to say, the reaction to that particular moment was quite entertaining!

Last weekend, after the round of shots, I had a very fun Friday night with some of those newer friends. Ended up at a bonfire at someone's house and one of the people I had gone with actually turned and asked me this: If I have a few more beers, are you cool to drive back home?
Something about it was stuck in my mind and I just realized what it is. He knew I was sober, and that I would be staying that way. But he didn't take it for granted and assume I'd be fine driving his car back (though he did ensure I knew how important that car is to him) and still asked if I was cool sober cabbing him home.
I have friends I've known for way longer than I've known this guy and they don't want me around when they're drinking because it's "awkward" (another rant for another post) but they still assume I'm available to pick their drunken selves up from the bar whenever they are in need.

I guess I'm not yet used to this new personality trait in a friend. I think it's called "respect" and I kinda like it. I might need to keep this one around...

More graffiti soon,
~A