Before I got married, an uncle of mine taught me to categorize friends into a few distinct groups and weight their importance and influence in my life accordingly. The idea was to maximize my limited resources and don’t waste any time with those who aren’t meant to be my friends over the long haul and spend more time with those whom I care as much as they care about me. I thought the idea makes sense but never really thought much of it. In reality, everybody does that already anyway whether one likes it or even knows it or not.
We’ve come to know quite a few friends in the Bay Area in the four years we have been here. But there’s one type of friend I can’t help but noticed — the kind that has too much personality. It’s the kind of person who fills the room whenever s/he is around; the kind of person that dominates conversations, commends (and sometimes demands) attention and refuse to shut up about him/herself. Now, if that person was Bill Clinton or someone of significance and great charm, I probably wouldn’t mind so much. But when a self-centric person just blabs on and on about how wonderful him/herself is (or his/her child/ren are), it makes a very annoying party.
Sometimes I feel like telling them: “Wow, don’t ever stop. My pathetic life is just so uninteresting compared to your adventures. Do go on. Do make me admire you that much more.”
People like that obviously can’t stand each other. And I happen to know that these two acquaintances of ours also hate each other’s guts. Most people can take these type of personalities in small doses. Too much of it can cause headaches, diarrhea, involuntary vomiting, and an urge to tell them to shut the hell up.
This begs the question though… Would I rather gamble on a bag of Made-In-China potato chips or having a small party with one of those personalities? It’d be a double whammy if the person in question has a party and serves chips imported from China… D’oh!