1 phone or computer + 2 ex-boyfriends / 3 glasses of wine = y!
As I have found from my recent GRE studying, I have a love-hate relationship with math. And after many years of being disillusioned thinking I was good at it, I'm suddenly slapped into reality with GRE math practice test scores of 30%. Okay, just so you don't think I'm a complete moron, that was the score of just the first practice test. I've since eked my way up to a cool 50%. Yea, either way, it's appalling.
And apparently I'm just as bad at the math of exes and dating.
Drunk texting exes is something that not everyone has done or been subject to, and it definitely gets a bad rap. And although I admit it communicates an "I-am-in-desperate-need-of-therapy-this-week" kind of message about the sender of the texts, I do think it can also say a lot about the character of the person on the receiving end of such messages. Does he/she ignore all your messages? Write back something mean? Kindly and patiently respond to whatever arrows or broken hearts you sling? Or ask you to come over so he/she can take full advantage of your weakness in the moment? (This last one is where having exes in other countries is very helpful...or not, I guess, depending on what you hope to achieve from drunk texting.)
I kind of understand why people drunk text, mostly because I've done it. To have a slight excuse, I've only done it while living abroad, where my emotions, fears, and PMS can get amplified to the nth degree (more math!). In the U.S., where my best friends can easily come over with Ben & Jerry's or a Starbucks chai latte or homemade chocolate chip cookies (or, for the serious cases, all three), getting rejected is easy (okay, easier). Within an hour, I can be surrounded by sweets and friends who not only know me well but more importantly who know my history and patterns of behavior and thus know what to do and say to make me feel better.
As I have found from my recent GRE studying, I have a love-hate relationship with math. And after many years of being disillusioned thinking I was good at it, I'm suddenly slapped into reality with GRE math practice test scores of 30%. Okay, just so you don't think I'm a complete moron, that was the score of just the first practice test. I've since eked my way up to a cool 50%. Yea, either way, it's appalling.
And apparently I'm just as bad at the math of exes and dating.
Drunk texting exes is something that not everyone has done or been subject to, and it definitely gets a bad rap. And although I admit it communicates an "I-am-in-desperate-need-of-therapy-this-week" kind of message about the sender of the texts, I do think it can also say a lot about the character of the person on the receiving end of such messages. Does he/she ignore all your messages? Write back something mean? Kindly and patiently respond to whatever arrows or broken hearts you sling? Or ask you to come over so he/she can take full advantage of your weakness in the moment? (This last one is where having exes in other countries is very helpful...or not, I guess, depending on what you hope to achieve from drunk texting.)
I kind of understand why people drunk text, mostly because I've done it. To have a slight excuse, I've only done it while living abroad, where my emotions, fears, and PMS can get amplified to the nth degree (more math!). In the U.S., where my best friends can easily come over with Ben & Jerry's or a Starbucks chai latte or homemade chocolate chip cookies (or, for the serious cases, all three), getting rejected is easy (okay, easier). Within an hour, I can be surrounded by sweets and friends who not only know me well but more importantly who know my history and patterns of behavior and thus know what to do and say to make me feel better.
But what about when I'm abroad? Well, I feel as if I can't really inundate newly-made friends with my relationship woes or fears of dying alone covered in cat hair. I don't think a person should act crazy for at least a year of friendship. And even though I've become extremely close friends with people while living abroad, I still hesitate to bombard newer friends with the lack of logic that I sometimes exude. Plus, the logistics of getting 'relationships-be-damned' comfort food often plays a part. Ben & Jerry's or a Starbucks chai latte...here? Um, no. Homemade cookies on the spur of the moment? 1. Butter is outrageously expensive here. 2. Many Malawians don't have ovens. 3. Power cuts. 4. (I think you get the picture?) And all of the above challenges also apply to where I was living in Costa Rica, with power outages due to rains or winds or, occasionally (and I'm serious about this), a monkey frying itself on power lines near my apartment.
But back to my oldest and closest friends. Even oceans away, they quickly help me through the ridiculously adolescent "Why doesn't he call/care/like me?" stage that everyone has been through at some point. And when I'm messing up the math, coming up with answers that are negative numbers, they make new formulas for me, such as this recent one: "You are an asskicker and you deserve the best, not some half-assed crumbs."
Everyone should have friends to help with one's own bad math.
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