Thursday January 1st, 2004
I got out of last night’s heavy drinking binge because they told me the wrong place. I mean, I knew exactly where it was, when I realised that it wasn’t where they told me it was, but still. I had my out. I had a nice dinner with George and Jen, walked to the salle de fetes, saw no one, and snuck home. Lame, but as I passed the SNV building (where it was) I saw Alex there (who was wearing a scarf in honor of his dead sister), taking with Izadore, and both were visiblly drunk from 60ft. I got home, and fell asleep.
Alex came by today. Charly promised him money to get to the village where his sister was going to be burried (because he missed the truck that was heading down)… but Charly was asleep. Would I give him money. The answer was.. not until he had talked to Charly. He went off looking for Charly. Charly, who had been drinking VEERRYYY heavily the night before (and Charly is not a drinker, so it must have been something to behold), could not be woken up. I agreed to give Alex money, but only on the condition that he understand that is was Charly’s money, and that I was helping Charly and not him. I feel like an asshole, but I am tired of being the Bank of Ben for Alex… and besides, he has been drunk for well over a week straight, and wouldn’t have missed the free ride down if he hadn’t been fucked up. So, we negotiated a price, I gave him money to get change, with instructions to go to the store and buy cookies and eggs. The store is less than 50 feet away. He came back with cookies and cigarettes. I don’t know how he managed to fuck it up in less than 50 ft…but he did. He took the money –forgot about the cigarettes, and left. The good news is that he is going to be gone for a week.. or at least, that is the plan. I don’t think he can finish anything he starts, so I expect him back sooner.
Oh, did I mention that when I expressed my sympathy, he immediately grabbed on to that as an opportunity to see if he could use my camera to film the event.. when I said no, how about the still camera, no? How about the DAT recorder? Still no. He would be getting great footage he promised. Nice to know that his sister’s death can come in handy. So what is worse… say no, or him asking?
him asking..
Posted by: tomas at February 19, 2004 12:06 AMI'd certainly say that you saying no is the lesser, by far. Alex obviously needs crystal clear boundaries set and maintained. If he's not able to show his ability to uphold his end of things, he needs to learn that there are hard and fast consequences.
Sorry to hear about his sister, though. That's pretty bleak.
Posted by: eeno at February 19, 2004 08:59 AMI really appreciate blogs like this one becuase it is insightful and helps me communicate with others.
thanks.