Carolyn Hax is away. The following is from Feb. 8, 2008.
Carolyn Hax: Boyfriend’s side hustle? Selling partner’s meds to his friend.
— Snoopy the Impromptu Drug Dealer
Snoopy the Impromptu Drug Dealer: This is good. If I slap my forehead numb, it’s like homemade Botox.
Normally it’s difficult to help people solve a problem when I’m told not to mention the problem. Fortunately, with your situation, I can just mosey on down and pick the next problem in line.
You are rationalizing the fact that your boyfriend is stealing something that you rely on for your health — not to save his dying mother, mind you, or feed his family, but for profit. Wow. I’ll give you credit — most people try to rationalize away the little stuff, but you didn’t shrink from a challenge.
I appreciate that you’ve invested a lot of time and hard work in this guy, and that accepting he’s a thief means discarding it all. But you’re trying to spin his atrocious behavior into something … I don’t know, non-atrocious. (A complete waste of time, by the way, if I haven’t made my leanings clear.) And, you’re trying to pass off the hated but irrelevant friend as part of the problem.
Instead, why don’t you spin dumping the boyfriend as follows: getting your soul back.
You’ve tried to make counseling work on someone who equates “decency” with “lost income.” Now try it on someone who deserves your attention: a certain text-snooping, self-loathing provider of pills and excuses. Surely you want more out of life.
Hi, Carolyn: I was in a relationship with a controller/abuser, and I finally got out about four months ago. How can you tell the difference between “just not ready for” and “just not into” someone? I’ve started seeing a wonderful woman … very laid back, attractive, successful. But I feel very “blah” about things, like sometimes I’d rather just be alone, and when I am alone I don’t even think about her at all. I certainly don’t want to hurt her, but it raises the question of whether I’m not into her, or it’s just my emotional state right now.
— Baltimore
Baltimore: And your question raises the question, what do you have to lose by being honest?
Granted, you don’t want to throw around such universally hurtful observations as, “When I’m alone I don’t even think about you.” However, your circumstances are plainly sympathetic: You’ve been badly hurt and barely had time to mend (and might have a touch of depression).
You’re also admitting you need time alone to someone who, presumably, you’d be otherwise eager to see. If you mean it like you say it, a wonderful person will get it. The truth is unerring that way.