The Time I Bought a Concert Ticket and Didn't Stay for the Show

I used to have this really good guy friend, Jarrett. He worked at my company so I met him through a co-worker/friend of mine. We instantly became close friends. At the time, I was still unhappily dating Platonic Ex, but I really liked Jarrett's personality and found him attractive which you will rarely hear me say about a guy.

Last fall, Jarrett and I bought tickets to see his favorite band. At the last minute, one of his friends, Parker, decided to ditch his night class and met up with us at the concert. Things got off to a rocky start when Jarrett and Parker went to order a shot at the bar and Parker turned to ask me what I wanted. Jarrett scoffed, "We don't need to buy her a shot. She has a boyfriend for that."

Jarrett then proceeded to spend the next forty-five minutes during the opening bands hitting on random girls. I, on the other hand, stood there alone, drinking, like an idiot. I don't know what got into Jarrett that night -- that was completely uncharacteristic of him. I'd hung out with him plenty of times before and he was never an inconsiderate prick like that. I think eventually things just got weird between us. I don't know if it was sexual tension or what, but it got to be too much.

I sucked down two or three drinks until I finally became so outraged that I told Parker I was going to the restroom. I thought maybe if I splashed cold water on my face, I would cool down. But I was still fuming. When I exited the bathroom, I headed straight for the doors, got into my car and took off (we'd driven separately so I wasn't leaving him stranded). Jarrett was so busy mingling with the women-folk that he probably didn't even notice for quite some time. I know it was immature on my part but I just wanted to get the hell out of there.

Things were never the same after that. He tried calling a hundred times that night and the next day but I ignored him. Eventually over email, he fed me some bullshit about how he wasn't deliberately ignoring me and that he was just having a good time meeting other fans of the band. Yeah. Right. We'd seen the band play another time and he hadn't acted that way.

By the time Platonic Ex and I finally broke up for good, Jarrett and I had drifted apart. We don't talk anymore so it came as a surprise when I received a Facebook message Monday evening from Parker wishing me a happy early birthday "in case he forgot."

I wrote back and thanked him and asked what he'd been up to so we've exchanged several messages now. Last night I finally worked up the nerve to inquire about Jarrett. I said, "So I have to ask, how is your friend Jarrett? I know he hates me and all..."

I'm fairly certain Jarrett doesn't hate me but I didn't know how else to broach the subject. I see I have a new message on Facebook from Parker, but it's blocked at work so I'm curious to see what he has to say since he was there when the drama went down. To be continued...

Grrr = Growl

It’s TheGuy’s birthday today so ever since last Wednesday, I’d been asking him what his celebratory plans entailed. He kept saying he didn’t know. I inquired again Friday afternoon, thinking he would go out Saturday night, but he said he wasn’t feeling well so he was only going to go out if he was feeling better. I texted him Saturday night and he wrote back at 7:30 saying he still didn’t know and was going to take a nap and then decide. A couple hours later, I texted again. And again. No response. Stupidly and regrettably, I’d held off on making plans thinking I would meet up with him later. Then after no word, I was mad so I just went to bed.

Naturally I assumed he went out. How do you not go out on your birthday?? Unless you’ve got SARS or Bird Flu. I sent another not-so-nice follow-up text today about blowing me off. He didn’t reply until 6:30 and all he said was, “Sorry, I was just in a bad mood last night, I only went out for a little while.” First of all, how can you be in a bad mood on your birthday?? That’s just not right. I think he just wanted to keep me away from his friends or more importantly, maybe a female friend. I don’t know. Was he faking illness all along? I was with him Thursday night and he wasn’t sick. Even if you’re in a bad mood, you can have the common courtesy to text someone back. He knows from experience that that sets me off. It’s just plain rude.

When things like this occur, I do one of two things: (1) avoid the person at all costs (2) brush it off and forget it ever happened. I’m really pissed and annoyed right now but I’m sure he’ll apologize again and I’ve got this soft spot for him so I have a hard time staying mad so it may fade by the time I wake up tomorrow. I had an inkling something like this was bound to happen in the near future. Given he's a male, he was destined to disappoint sooner or later.