More on Parker
Dear [Mentat],
Well, about Rich, I figured he’d come up with some sort of slippery spin favorable to his position, regarding my choice to leave my job.
Hmmmm. I wonder why he repeatedly thinks I’m gloating when I tell him about my life. Back in 1988, he accused me of it when I told him of my new job. You and I have discussed that a number of times since. Now, he’s doing it again by saying that he thought I was happy about not having to work while others must work. [Mentat], that was never the story at all. While I admit that I’m much happier now that I’m not working for that company, my happiness is due to the fact that I’m under much less stress. Not because I feel that I’m privileged. I don’t like being poor – I’m lucky if I clear a fourth of the money I did while working. He conveniently neglected to mention that part of our discussion. Nor does he include my comments about how difficult making money in the DJ business really is. His chronic problem of not listening to others shows up again.
But anyway, it doesn’t matter because he’s history in my book. I’ve just had enough of his negative interpretations of events. He’s really quite the toxic person. It’s amazing that [his wife] has put up with him so long. But he’ll poison me no more. I’m done.
Anyway, to your comment about REBT [Rational Emotive Behavioral Therapy] and my avoidance of people who “make me mad”: Yes, it’s a worthwhile skill to learn – to keep others from pushing our buttons. But in some extreme situations (like this one with all the history that goes along with it), it’s just better to cut one’s losses and run. As I see it, there is little to be gained by struggling to learn to keep Rich from firing me up. The more attractive solution to me, is simply to avoid him.
Tom