Strings attached

A break from travel posts.

It's been about... 3 years since I've had a mentor of any sort. Usually the shoe's on the other foot, and I'm spieling off my random advice on how to approach challenging situations. Lately, I've been *really* struggling to deal at work. I know my target, I know how to deliver, but orifice politics and a general lack of communication in a huge global company has just gotten me down. So I nabbed my ex-manager and escaped for a half hour coffee chat. I made him tell me all his happy stories first :) Then I dumped all my crap on him *grin* Everything since he'd left. Hey, at least I waited for him to ask first! As he spoke me through all my problems, I started to feel a lot lighter inside. I felt like I had been lifted ten feet off the level of shit I'd been wading through lately to get a better view of the endgame. Then I was plonked back down. Still in the same shit, but at least now I was equipped with nose plugs and wellies :P

My ex-manager (XM) is on a roll, and asks, "So what else you got?"

I blurt out, "I got dumped by a boy last night".

XM: "What?!? Did he take you to an expensive restaurant?"
Me: "No, he took me to a pub."
XM: *crinkles his nose* "He didn't do it the right way then."
Me: "What on earth is the right way for that sort of situation??"
XM: "He should've taken you to a really nice, expensive restaurant."
Me: "Why? So the girl thinks everything's going really well just before he stabs her in the back and twists the knife in?" (I do some knife stabby motions with my hand for emphasis)
XM: "NO. It's so you won't make a scene!"

I burst out laughing... It's what I needed to hear to bring me out of the fog. I file the tip away for next time ;)

Me: "Wait till your daughter grows up and goes through all this with BOYS."
XM: "She won't, I'm sending her to Antarctica."
Me: "I hear there are some really good convents there run by penguins." *grin*
XM: "Have a biscotti."
Me: "I'm on the Rejection diet - liquids only."

Being dumped is never easy. Being friends after is harder. I've tried. It's never worked because the guy always does the wrong thing and skews the balance. It's hard enough for me to look at that person and not *feel* stuff. So I don't put myself through that emotional wringer anymore :P What's really helped, is the support network I've had :) The friends who took me to the pub and ordered me doubles while we talked.

I know it seems ridiculous to be upset after such a short time since first date, but... I underestimated the strength of strings attached. Cutting them off still hurt. The worrying thing is, even though each circumstance has been different, I'm starting to see a pattern.

Do I regret selling my booty online? No :) It's still a great way to meet people. It's just sometimes, I still wish I could forget easily.

Please don't leave comments on this post. I don't want this to be a "Sympathy for Reenie" or "Man Hating" thing. Don't email me about it either. It's not what I want to hear.