Who Loves a Good Joke...

There is this friend I have that I dearly love but for some reason my friends and I cannot help but make fun of her all the time. Don't get me wrong, it's very playful and loving and nice and she knows we love her and we are never mean. But we just cannot help it. Recently (now that I am at high school) I have tried to become a bit more creative with my pranks:

Somehow I managed to find out her locker combination. She is one of those people who love to decorate their lockers with endless magnets and pictures of friends. So I took advantage of this. For weeks... yes weeks... I took one magnet out of her locker per day. After some time I ran out of magnets. If I wanted to go further I would have had to mess with her pictures and I had a feeling she would notice after that.
That very day she called me to ask if I did this. Of course I denied but I began to feel a bit bad. So I decided I would wrap up all of her magnets (17 of them by now) in a Christmas present, attach a note, and include one handmade special personal magnet inside, and leave it in her locker. The next morning I was a bit nervous because I thought that she still might be a bit mad at me especially because I denied it at first.
To my pleasant surprise, I walked into school and was greeted by a big hug from her saying "You are the best friend ever!" I could not have been more happy.

This is a perfect example of my friend who loves a good joke. Whenever you do a prank or something make sure you appoligize or do something for them in the end, but most importantly, make sure you do the joke on someone who won't freak out.

I want a friend in life I can love but they can still laugh with me. My advice for the evening: be that person.

Who Knows How to Take a Hint...

Probably the most important social skill one will ever learn is taking hints. People drop them all the time and it is up to you to catch them.

If someone does not want to talk to you, for example, they may show no interest in what you are saying, answer with one word, and try to make excuses to leave. There is nothing that frustrates me more is someone who cannot take the very obvious hints I try to drop for them.

There is a girl in my class I do not like very much. She is very annoying, she thinks she is my best friend (even though I hardly know her). Most importantly, she never takes my hints.

Today in class we were presenting some projects. She forced me to let her hold my poster (which is not only really stupid, but a few people had already offered). She was very harsh about it, and she also forced me to hold hers. I tried to make it very clear I did not want to do anything for her and I wanted her to do nothing for me, but alas, she is forceful, and thats what best friends do, right?

She managed to get up in between each presentation (there were probably 5 or 6) and walk all the way across the room (she sat in back corner and I in opposite front) to show me her pen. Yes, she showed me that same pen 5 times. The first time I very half-heartedly said is was nice. I thought maybe she would leave me alone. Oh no. She came up to me 4 other times to show me the same pen I had already seen and commented on. By the last time, after she got none of my hints, I just flat out told her to go sit back down because she has already showed me the pen and I had already commented on it.

Later during class, while the teacher was in the middle of a lecture, she got up AGAIN to come show me her pen. (And I should say here that there is absolutely nothing mentally wrong with this girl. She is actually pretty smart.) This time the teacher also became fed up with her and yelled at her. She made "my best friend" go and sit in the hallway. On the inside I was rejoicing. I could not help myself from thinking "That'll shut her up for a while." That moment made my day.

The reason I have taken the time to say all of this is to give you an extreme situation where someone does not take hints. Take the hints that are given to you, and don't end up being that really annoying obnoxious girl in the back of class who no one really likes. Trust me, if you take hints, people will better appreciate the time they have with you, as well as the time without.

I could go on and on with many stories about this girl, but I'll come back to that later.

Remember, if you take the hints now, there will be fewer in the future.

Who Always Seems Happy...

The other day my friend came up to me and just said, "You know, you are really good at dealing with people you don't like. I have almost never seen you sad, and I wish I had your life. You are so stress free." On the contrary, my friend.

I was talking to my best friend who I have known well for years. I never tell anyone about bad things going on in my life, but I began telling her all of my struggles. By the time I had finished talking, my friend was speechless. I asked her to say something and she replied, "I would never had guessed you were one with such a hard life. I am so sorry. I never knew." At this point I smiled a little. "I try my best to make it so no one knows. I'm glad it works."

Another time, my friend came up to me after lunch and observed, "I never see you without someone sitting at either side of you. You are never on the end of the lunch table, wherever you sit becomes full of people, and I have even seen people fight to get the seat next to you... I wish people did that to me." And my response to her? "Make yourself the person people want to sit next to. Before you know it, your life will change."

I am always the one who is happy: the one everyone wants to be around, the one who is friends with everyone she meets. But the thing is, if you ever meet anyone like me consider this:

Odds are this person is hiding something about their life. Up until the point when I talked to my best friend no one knew I had such a hard life. This person, like me, uses happiness and friends to escape the difficulties of her home. It makes things worry free, and at this point in my life with all the problems I face, I could use some worry free time.

Next time you meet a person who always seems happy remember this:

It is the happiest people who live the unhappiest lives.