I was waiting for class to start and overhearing the two girls in the seats in front of me talking to each other. In all honesty, I sit behind them on purpose because I don't understand their thinking at all and I like to listen to them chat. Something to expand my experience. So far, I've never interjected, but someday I think it's inevitable that I will.
Today's conversation was about one of them breaking up with her sort-of boyfriend. The couple had met only two weeks earlier, as I overheard them saying two weeks earlier, so "break up" might not be as accurate as "never clicked." There were sort-of dates (but who can tell?), text messaging, hanging out at a party or gathering, but nothing serious. Things never seemed to pick up between them, and I don't think either of them understood why. The following is a transcription of today's conversation rebuilt from memory, given that I tuned in and out being distracted by staring at the ceiling...
Girl 1: So we broke up.
Girl 2: Oh, what happened?
...Tuned out; organizing class notes...
Girl 1: So I texted him saying, 'Are you mad at me?' And he never got back to me. So later I texted, 'I'm just trying to be your friend, you don't have to ignore me.' At like two o'clock in the morning he finally responded with, 'Sorry, my phone died, why would you think I was mad at you?'
'Well, you didn't seem to like meeting my friends last Friday.'
...Tuned out; staring at my fingernails; something about him halfheartedly contesting the accusation that he didn't like her friends...
Girl 1: I feel bad because he's a really nice guy, but it's just not going to work out. We're still friends and all, ya know?
Girl 2: Well that's good, at least. Why do you think he didn't like your friends blah blah blah
Now I don't know the whole story here, or even one whole side of the story, considering that it was so uninteresting to me that I couldn't stay focused for more than a sentence at a time. However, to defend whoever this man is, phones die. When my phone dies, I tend to leave it dead for a day, partly because nobody calls me, but mostly because I hate phones and I don't care if people can't reach me. If someone ignores your text message for a whole day, there could be dozens of explanations why he wouldn't even be able to read it, let alone respond to it. But it sounded like they were in some sort of argument to begin with so maybe it wasn't such a hasty conclusion to jump to.
Another thing, for any girl I've ever pursued, I've never had a great relationship with her friends, certainly not the first time I meet them. I don't know these people, and the only thing I do know about them is that they're judging me. On the rare cases where I do get along with her friends, I knew them from somewhere else, such as taking a class together.
I also find it interesting that this potential relationship ended via text message. Am I wrong to think that text messaging should be used for quick and simple ideas (ie: meet you at the restaurant at 6) or short questions (ie: what's your address)? Larger and more complicated conversations should take place in person, because emotion cannot be accurately conveyed with a short text message. If I get a text that's anything more thought provoking than "What movie do you want to watch tonight," I might ignore it, either until I see you in person or until never.
These girls always struck me as overly perky, a little bit shallow, and above all, gabby. They're annoying and somehow fascinating at the same time. But who am I to judge, I'm just an eavesdropper who can't seem to mind my own business.
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