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AAAAARRRRUUGHHHHHHHH!!!!! Mad Brick wall

So you have that perfect situation to assert your rights and needs. You carefully evaluate the most tactful way to do so (or at least you think you do!) and you remind yourself that you are no longer a powerless child- it's "OK" to say no now. It's healthy to refuse to be a doormat, right? You get all anxious and feel like you're just going to throw up but realize how much worse you'll feel letting someone run you over. You know if you don't make your wishes known, it will fester under the surface until you hate them. So you take that brave step to say, "excuse me, your behavior isn't working for me." and what happens?

It goes exactly as you feared it would. It becomes a repeat of the lashing you always received as a child for any act of self protection. Then what? THEN WHAT???!!! You did the healthy thing, the hard thing, the scary thing, and you got the reaction you hoped and prayed NOT to get. That's how it feels anyway. Maybe you guys can tell me if I'm just having a major over reaction, which is entirely possible, and as I type the sentence, most likely what this is Frowner But it doesn't stop how much it hurts

Let me explain/ vent what happened. I agreed to watch a friend's 2 dogs this weekend. She originally told me she would drop them off this evening around 4 or 5. I said ok, and everything was fine. Then she texts me earlier today and says "it will be later than I thought." and I said ok. So 6pm rolls around, and I'm starting to feel a little annoyed. I keep thinking "what does later mean? Can't I have a vague estimate of time? am I supposed to just sit around until bedtime, and my entire evening is shot... waiting? That doesn't feel very respectful of my time. I'm pretty much trapped in my house, waiting for a mysterious time between 5 and ??? during which I can't leave to get dinner or do some errands I wanted to do without wondering when I have to rush back to the house to meet her. I feel really frustrated to not have my schedule given any more respect than that."

SO I thought, what can I do about it? I sent her a text and said exactly this. "do you have an estimate of what time you might be by? I'm supposed to go out this evening so I want to be able to plan around it."

Her response: "10ish??? I'll just tie them to the front porch."

Now I realize I'm extra sensitive right now, so I don't want to make a mountain of a molehill. And I realize text is VERY easily misunderstood. But that answer really hurt me. It felt like the guilt ridden messages and back handed jabs I know all too well from childhood. Usually when she's joking about something there's a 'LOL' or smiley face or whatever. Not with this one, and that really didn't help my feeling punished for asserting my need to the common courtesy of a head's up so I'm not waiting around all night. I know logically I should try to talk it out with her, but I feel hurt and I don't trust that things will get any better by trying to go against my instincts to withdraw again

Would anyone else be hurt by that? Am I being dramatic?
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Well, if you want my honest opinion...

Yes, your friend was being flaky. And annoying. And probably rude. But the "lashing" is something I don't see here. I actually read her reply as slightly sheepish.

But you know what else? You didn't actually set a boundary here. You asked for an estimate of what time she might come by. She gave you an estimate. If 10:00 was too late for you, and you didn't want her tying the dogs up outside if you were going to be out, THAT is what you could have set a boundary about. You could have said "I'm sorry, that is too late for me. The latest time that works for me is X."

It's understandable that this is very triggering for you, but I think if you examine closely you will see it's NOT an exact repeat of what happened in your childhood.
((AH)) I'm so sorry you were so triggered. I have to agree with BLT and SB though. I do think your friend was kind of shyly, sheepishly replying to your text. I don't read it as passive-aggressive (although, of course I don't know your friend and can't know anything for sure). I think what BLT wrote was spot on. You didn't really set a boundary, you just asked your friend to give you a time and she did (as inconsiderate as maybe she was being, she did answer your question). I'm sorry this stuff has triggered lots of stuff from the past. I think you're being really smart to take a step back and really understand if she was discounting your boundary or if you maybe were triggered and are not seeing the situation as clearly as you could.

This stuff is life though and this is how we practice and get better at making ourselves and our intentions clear. No shame in what happened, no judgment if you were being too "dramatic." Next time, maybe you will be able to set a boundary, having learned from this experience.
ugh. yeah, AH, I can kinda see where the other posters are coming from.
Maybe it was all the question marks - maybe it was the thought of leaving the furry friends alone outside - maybe it was the many hours late that got to me.
(...and maybe it was my own issues not being able to be assertive and set boundaries *shock* lol)
However, I still don't like her response. But yep I agree with the others too. I didn't...couldn't see that initially.
Thanks guys

I guess I should fill in some info of what made it feel hurtful, I didn't express it all very well... one thing that made it feel like an angry comment is that it is so cold here that no one is able to leave their animals outside now. So that made the comment feel like it was intended to make me feel guilty just because the nature of leaving them outside only held the possibilities of being a joke or sarcasm. My history was filled with comments to make me feel guilty and that's why it was too familiar.

And the other part I didn't express very well was that I didn't view the 10:00 as the boundary. That part didn't bother me at all actually. I viewed telling her I wanted an estimate of time rather than being made to wait as my boundary. I thought I was setting a boundary of "I don't want to wait without an estimate." and felt punished with a sarcastic comment...

I ended up asking her what she meant last night when she showed up. She said she was joking when she said she'd leave the dogs outside. So I guess I was worried for nothing... I still feel sad but I can see it's all my stuff from the past...

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