What happened to you?

What happened to you to cause such a drastic change in behaviour? I could spend a whole weekend with you and not even be tired of you by the end of it, we would laugh for days and chat and just all around have a great time. Now, I can’t bare to spend an evening with you before I’m dying to get away. You don’t listen to anything anyone else has to say and dominate the conversation, talking constantly about your own shit, usually playing the victim and looking for sympathy. You have become bitter and jealous and anytime one of your friends has something great happen to them you make sure to belittle it or make a joke that isn’t really a joke to kill the celebratory mood. You also have become a bully and downright mean, and I’m not sure if maybe you feel that your close friends love you so they can/will take it, but your constant put downs and competition to be better in everything we do or talk about really isn’t something I’m willing to work with just to continue our friendship. I really hope this is just a phase or something you will work through, because for the last few years we have been so close and I’ve enjoyed your company, but this current version of you is just not someone I can or want to be around. —People Change, Not Always for the Better

This article appears in Oct 4-10, 2012.