I once knew this girl who talked shit about everybody she knew.  We’d be hanging out, someone would walk in, she’d be super-nice to their face, and as soon as they’d leave, she’d be talking shit about them.  I began to notice that she was always somehow friends with these people that she constantly talked shit about.

It took me three years to realize that if she talked shit to me about everybody else, then she was definitely talking shit about me too.

I divorced this friend the minute I realized that I was also being dogged behind my back.  I actually overheard a phone conversation when she thought I was asleep.  It was a messy split, but I’ve always known it was the right thing to do.  No Looking Back.

Those who talk shit to you, are talking shit about you.

Now, often times I have some very unkind things to say about people too, and I fault no one for having a negative opinion about someone. However, I won’t say something about someone behind their back that I won’t also say to their face.  I make sure that people know exactly how I feel about them, if I in fact feel anything at all.

Perhaps this is why I have so few friends.  I don’t play the game.  Perhaps this is why so many little scenesters didn’t like my band.  I don’t play the game.  When someone wrongs me, they’re gone.  When I have a low opinion of someone, I don’t keep them around.  I have no time in my life for weak characters, which helps me appreciate the few people I do consider worthy.  Call it bravado, but I see selectivity as intelligence.

And every so often, I’m reminded again that it is time to clean house.