The Nitty Gritty

We live our lives thinking that all is okay.  Sometimes, it's not, but we can't imagine the results.
That is happening to me now. 

Once upon a time, back in the 1990s, I had need of $150 to get me out of a legal deal.  My daughter, who was a very young adult, was trying desperately to help me but couldn't, on her own.  With no family close by to rely on, I finally advised her to call a friend to ask if he could/would help.  He dropped everything and came running.  I will forever be grateful for that.

A week or so later, he came by so I could repay him, which I did.  Maybe a year later or so, he called to tell me that I owed him sexual favors because he had helped me out.  As far as I was concerned, that ended the friendship.  I hadn't seen or heard from him since, when I turned him down, which was okay by me!

Fast forward twenty years or so.  I got a friend request from him on Facebook after he saw me on Nextdoor.com.  I sat on the request for quite a bit, wondering if it was wise to accept his request.  I mean, it had been a long time.  Surely things would be different now, right?  I accepted his request. 

Bad decision! 
On July 28th, when I was barely home from my trip to Washington, he wrote me a personal message saying that he'd like to "have lunch with an old friend".  I told him on that very same date that the next week would be better for me.  He said he'd be in touch...and that's the last I heard.  Until yesterday. 

Yesterday, he got all huffy about how I hadn't responded to his messages of July 28th until just now.  Surely that meant that I didn't care about his attention.  I tried several times to prove to him that I HAD responded, but couldn't get the system to cooperate.  (Still can't.)  I told him that, because of his accusations without proof, I was okay with being out of touch with him.  His response was that I was "cold".  Yeah...okay. 

Lesson learned.  Leopards don't change their spots.  I have no clue what this man wanted by friending me on Facebook, but his emotional response to things outside of my control tell me that I'm just going to let this situation meet its eventual demise.