Everyone Has That "Friend"

We all have friends who have developed or exhibited some habit or trait to which we assign our friend's name directly. Often it has some negative connotation to it. Let me give you an example. You just pulled a "Josh," or that is so "Karen," as it has become quite popular nowadays. "Karen" seems to be getting all of the press nowadays as this describes someone who is generally a middle-aged white woman exhibiting obnoxious, often entitled, angry, racist behavior (and not in that order). If your name is Karen, you have taken a beating in the press over the last few years. Karen just happened to be my mother's name (I wonder how she would feel about that, but I digress).

I figured I would put pen to paper and describe something that has always irked me about my friend. I want to start by saying my friend exhibits none of the "Karen" traits. This gentleman became very infamously known for being non-committal to any event. It was almost like he had a list of options, and he was weighing them at all times. As he will now be called, Greg was crafty in his responses when invited to an outing. He would generally throw out, "that sounds nice," or an "I should be there." He may pepper in a conditional response of, "if this doesn't happen, I will most likely be there." He was a master in his answers and had a million of them. It indeed was an art form and almost became a game with him.

Countless events, outings, games, and concerts came and went. Greg was hit or miss on them for years. A group of us would sit around and take bets on whether he would show or not. We came up with a list of non-committal words he would often use. They consisted of might, should, maybe, mostly, likely, to name a few. He always made a good topic of discussion, and we always laughed at the entire situation.

It wasn't until we called Greg on his "shit" that he started to show to a few events. His "might" turned into "I told you I would make it." He always wanted props for showing at an event and was quick to take his bow. His motivation to make it to get-togethers was not to be ribbed by his friends. He had developed a habit and one he most likely would never break. In either case, he earned his name, becoming a negative adjective. This was now a "Greg" thing to do.

I do want to give Greg "props" in some instances. There were those gold star events he would give a resounding "I'm There" reply. These specific events were those events that must have ranked very high on Greg's list. The kind of event most human beings wouldn't miss for anything. Greg was sure to show for these such events. These were the events Greg wanted to be known for. He would make sure you remembered he was there for these events, and his no-show slate should be wiped clean.

The one thing I always wanted to be known for was someone you could count on. This is not to say Greg couldn't be counted on, but when you leave some small amount of doubt in your answers you become a "question mark". Greg had become a question mark to those around him and he was almost oblivious to it entirely. If there is any lesson to be taken away from this, don't be a question mark, and certainly do not be a "Karen".