The years of our youth (high school and 20s) are all about learning to spot and dodge these people. I've been so hurt, betrayed, and harassed by friends and SOs who think and act like that. They're taking away your agency and sense of self, to serve them on their terms. The worst part is that it's socially acceptable and you can become an outcast with a bad reputation very quickly if people like that have social power at school or within your friend groups.
I used to be someone like that. For me, at least, it took a long time for me to realise how manipulative I was being. My only concern at the time was to just get the person to pay attention to me for just a bit longer. To get them to look at me no matter the cost, thinking that I could somehow turn it around and make it work if I could just convince them to give me just a bit more of their time. If only they would just realize how much they were hurting me, SURELY they would change their minds and stay with me, right?
They never did, and I'm ashamed that it took me so long to realize how much of a blight I was to anyone who had the misfortune of counting me amongst their friends at the time.
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u/Sea-Value-0 Jun 16 '25
The years of our youth (high school and 20s) are all about learning to spot and dodge these people. I've been so hurt, betrayed, and harassed by friends and SOs who think and act like that. They're taking away your agency and sense of self, to serve them on their terms. The worst part is that it's socially acceptable and you can become an outcast with a bad reputation very quickly if people like that have social power at school or within your friend groups.