Of Weeds.

Negative people are much like deadweights -

the kind who'd rain on your parade,

the ones who'd have nothing good to say when you're reeling in delight,

the people who'd scoff at your joy.

Their artifice chokes. They gnaw away at you, eroding and encumbering your attempts at being Happy and Good.

Have you had a friend who'd be sullen and evidently detached whenever you shared a tale of joy?

Or a friend who could not accept that you've leapfrogged him/her and appear to resent your success progress?

What about a friend who demands authority and superiority in aspects that he/she is alien to but are clearly your forte?

Would you be happy with a friend whom you'd always avail yourself to despite having to adjust your hectic schedule but he/she would never do the same for you?

For example, he/she insists on a shared commitment on Friday afternoons, justifying that Fridays are imperative. Your efforts to coax a shift to Saturday are nullified. You're berated for suggesting inefficiency and a 24-hour lag. This, despite knowing fully well that on your side, Fridays are clearly bogged with work till 10pm. You thus tweak your schedule such that you are available on certain Fridays, which translates to longer working hours for the rest of the week as you distribute Friday's workload among the other days. However, at his/her whim, Fridays are now off-limits and hey, presto! Saturdays are now imperative. Your only day of rest is now pulverised. What about the drawbacks of inefficiency by choosing Saturdays? "Oh, it doesn't matter." Uh-Huh....Right....

Would you embrace a friend who doesn't want to share hear know your sorrows?

What if all the above were to cumulate in a single person?

What would be the straw that breaks the camel's back?

As always, I try to be patient and my threshhold for nonsense is relatively high. (Good friends can attest to how amazed they are that I can stretch myself without snapping in many aspects when they'd have walked away a long time ago!)

People with emotional baggage, constant gripes or financial issues are not the ones I'd shun. It is not right to leave a friend in the lurch.

But someone who is unkind, mean and selfish? Someone who wants neither your joys nor sorrows?

A soft-spoken gentle giant (ok, so it's Del) widened his orbs and remarked, "Why are you still friends with her, Mich?" I burst out laughing as I hadn't expected an answer of this sort from a fabulously patient guy.

He got me thinking and here's my answer -

Because Mich always looks for the silver lining, the sliver (did a double-take there, didn't you?) of goodness in somebody.

Mich believes in giving others yet another chance and another and another and another ...

As always.

With everyone.

With anyone.

With ......