I decided to go home last weekend. My brother & dad left for Ireland on Sunday and we were getting a new Stake President so I figured this was a good weekend to be home. Overall, it was a nice weekend - only slightly marred by the fact that I saw my arch enemy at stake conference. You are probably thinking, "Brooke, you are always so accepting and cuddly. How could you have an arch enemy?" Quite easily, in fact.
Imagine Michael Scott from the Office as a real person. Now imagine him as one of your friend's fathers. And there you have my Arch Enemy. He used to live in my ward, but sometime while I was at BYU, he & his wife (I don't like her either) moved to Virgina (still in the stake, sadly). So I only remember that this man exists when I go to stake conference. I could go into the multiple reasons I hate him, but suffice it to say that he is a self-righteous bastard. All the people that I claimed to hate at BYU are like good friends compared to Arch Enemy.
For some reason he thinks that it is okay to talk to me. Maybe because, when he proved incompetent of caring for his own children, his son moved in with my family for a year so he thinks we have a bond or something. More likely, I think he has forgotten the last conversation we had (I was 17). It ended with me saying "I don't like you & I refuse to talk to you ever again" & from that point on until he moved out of the ward if he tried to talk to me I would simply walk past without acknowledging his existence.
Its been 7 years since that conversation & I would like to think I've matured a bit. I guess not since when he came over & insisted on shaking hands with everyone in my family (most of us seething with hatred as we did so), the only cognitive thoughts that came to my mind were swear words. I can honestly say I am rarely filled with such loathing as I was in that moment. My little brother, Boy, asked, "What was on his tie?" I stared at him blankly for a few moments before I could formulate the sentence, "I'm sorry, the only words I can think of right now are vulgar." And then Boy, Babes (my little sister), the kid in front of us, & I all gossiped about how utterly atrocious Arch Enemy is.
I like to think that I am the type of person who doesn't hold grudges. Well, I'm not. I think I will detest this man until I die. I'll probably still be avoiding him in the celestial kingdom. But, even if I couldn't actually look at or speak to him, I did shake his hand. I think that is pretty good progress for 7 years.
*these are lyrics from an excellent song called "I Hate You" by John Oszajca. i recommend it if you are pissed at someone
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