Being the Sane One

The phone rings..You look down at the screen and think 'Oh no, not them'...Should you answer?

We all have some people in our lives presently or not, that sometimes we feel we can and should just live without. The friend/neighbor/fake cousin whomever that not only breeds drama but brandishes it around  like a calling card. Many times when those kinds of people come a-calling the logical route is to not answer and pretend like they don't exist. I've become the Queen of Obliviousness and when I want to avoid someone I have to get somewhat creative.

Them: 'Hey I called you yesterday'

Me: 'Really my phone didn't ring all day. My parents said they called me too and I missed it'

Them: Well I also wrote you on Facebook'

Me: 'Man, I'm rarely on facebook, in fact I disabled my notifications on my phone like last week'

And on it goes until hopefully they get the subtext and decrease on the call volume. Now I'm not saying you should do this to everyone but when I get called at 6:00AM on a Tuesday for some stupid ish Oh NO ALL CALLING RIGHTS ARE REVOKED. One of my best friends for four years can get her call answered at 9:00 AM but it better be good else I will be nice and #SLEEP.

However my mom told me something today that I really took heart. She said 'Sometimes you have to answer those calls and be that friend because you could be their only resource. I know which of my friend are too much but I still hang around because sometimes they need to see what a good relationship looks like, or what having your life put together looks like. Some days it your job to be the sane one'. Now I'm not saying my life is all together all the time but I realized that she was right. I mean I know first-hand how crazy circumstances hit my friends and I've been told plenty of times 'I  don't know what I would do without you'. Being the sane friend is not about lording over people and saying that my life is the best, its about being that calm voice of reason, that port in the storm, or that listening ear that lets you have a sounding board of your situation without judgement.

I've learned my lesson and I'm going to try and be a better resource...even if that means I can't avoid you all the time
-DJ