Paying attention, aka Bashing the Real World

Wednesday's are, as I've mentioned before, the longest days of the week for me. Yesterday was no exception. Work was super busy and I barely escaped at 1:30 (30 minutes past when I was supposed to leave). Unfortunately, working in the same general area as Real World means that it's apparently required that we transit to school together. So, she called me and suggested we meet at the Moorgate Station. Now, this is a clear violation. Allow me to explain.

I eat shabby lunches four days a week. It's either peanut butter and jelly or something similar to that. So, the one day that I allow myself a "luxury" is Wednesday. It's the day I go to the most delicious sandwich shop in the world and it's something that Real World should be aware of. She's only gone there with me every week for the last month. But no, that's not the way this particular light bulb operates. Instead, we have to have the same conversation each week ("Are you working tomorrow?", "What are you doing for lunch?", "Are you going to school after work?"). It gets old, to say the least.

Anyway, after informing her that I was once again going to Leather Lane and said sandwich shop, she suggested we meet outside the "Car Warehouse". Now, this is where the question comes to mind. I've thought for awhile now that she is either dyslexic or has ADD or both. So maybe someone can authoritatively comment on this. See, it's not "Car Warehouse". It's the "CarPHONE Warehouse". Not that it's a huge deal, but this is a characteristic that manifests itself on a daily, hourly, and per minute basis. She either has zero attention to detail (possible), has a vast and undiagnosed learning disability (likely), or both (I think we have a winner). It's frustrating to me because I'm not one with vast amounts of patience anyway. So when we have the exact same conversation twice a week for 6 weeks, I'm gonna get pissy about it. When she habitually omits words in common speech that render her "sentences" incomprehensible, I'm gonna get pissy about it. And when she opens her mouth in class, well, I'm actually just going to quietly laugh my ass off.

Anyway, after class, several of us went to the Uni pub. The new guy in the program (I'm going to call him The Marine because he served for several years) came with. He's a good guy, really smart and sensible. I identify with him as well because he's 30. While there, Eurotrash, The Marine, and I got into a conversation about Iran. It's something that is a definite concern because if you read between the lines, the US has not said we won't attack Iran. Instead, we've heard, "We have no plans to attack Iran at this time." Not exactly comforting. Real World, however, was unable to keep up. And this is the difference. Real World enrolled in this program because she wanted to be in London. Eurotrash, The Marine, and I all enrolled because this is what we're interested in - this is what we read, think, and talk about anyway. Real World couldn't even locate Iran on a map, not to mention have any comprehension of what we're going on about. She doesn't read the paper, she doesn't pay attention to current events, and she has next to no interest in her chosen field of study. What the hell is she still doing here?

This post wasn't intended to be a Real World bashing episode, but since I'm all warmed up, I may as well continue.

Real World is clingy. In fact, from a relationship sense, she's every man's worst nightmare. Not only does she have vast insecurities, but she absolutely cannot do anything by herself. Two examples:

1. Last week I missed work on Monday. I was quite unwell. Real World called me on the phone because she had not heard from me via email and she wanted to get lunch. I didn't answer. It wasn't personal, I'm just not answering the phone when I'm at home with illness (unless it's the Prototype - she has a free pass). So yeah, I saw her number come up, but I put the phone back on the floor and went back to sleep. She called several times later in the day, same response. It ain't personal. I just was not in the mood to talk to anyone. So, the next day, she asks me what was up and I explained that I was ill. Her response? "I thought you were mad at me." WTF? Now I'm mad at you ho'!

2. For our Humanitarian Issues class we have to go to the Imperial War museum to see the Holocaust exhibit. I was going to go last week but I had some admin things to deal with and ran out of time. Real World has been bugging me about it because she does (did) not want to go alone. She can't do anything by herself. I've been noticeably shady about when I was going. Today, she knew that I was going to go, so she started calling me at 9:30 in the morning to find out when I was going to go.

Now, I must confess, I drank to excess last night. It was not intentional. I have not been drinking much the last two weeks and your tolerance returns to fairly normal levels in that time span. So while I did not think I was overconsuming, I was brutally disabused this morning. As you can imagine, receiving any phone call at 9:30 in the AM (after passing out at 3) was not likely to bring a positive response. I took the high road and didn't answer. Just like the cock crows, Real World insisted on calling back 3 additional times, finally leaving a message on the 4th call. Yes, that's four calls in a row. Later, when I was feeling a bit more normal, I sent her a text that just said, "Hungover, may go later. Not sure." That, apparently, was a green light for her to call me again, this time around 2. Once again, I met her call with silence.

And this is the bottom line. Rested and healthy, hungover and ill, it matters not. The LAST thing I wanted to do today was to go to a museum with Real World. Not only do I like to have my personal time, seeing any Holocaust exhibit is a traumatic experience. I would not like to do that with someone who is vastly insecure and is likely to break down and be hysterical. Now, don't think I'm a cold-hearted bastard. If I was with a girlfriend and she did become emotional, of course it wouldn't bother me. But there's a HUGE difference between a "friend" and a girlfriend, and I am completely fed up with Real World to the point that it's becoming difficult for me to be nice to her on a regular basis (like ignoring her idiocy, for example).

At any rate, I never made it to the museum, so it's academic. It opens at 10 tomorrow, so I think I'm going to go before class. I have to give a presentation tomorrow in class, so I decided to dedicate the limited brain power that I have today to finishing that up. Should be good.

So, to sum up, I've reached the breaking point with Real World, I'm angry at myself for drinking too much and losing a day recovering, and I'm still unsatisfactorily single. I got to make some changes.