Ordinarily, I'd be all over making fun of Dorkass' little sister. But this time, my heart wasn't in it. The topic: her annoying romantic choices.
Yep. I was real quiet. So quiet, you could hear a glass house drop.
Lately I've given thought to my own annoying choices, my own poor investments of myself. When I'm in deep, I work hard and pay attention. I listen and internalize what she's saying. I wriggle around inside her mind until I know not only what she loves today, but what she will love tomorrow. (Curiously, this seldom seems to include me.) And then tomorrow comes, and my yield on that investment reveals itself to me.
To just me.
"I wonder if x knows that her favorite chef opened up a tapas place that's lousy with goat cheese and artichokes? I'll send her a quick—oh. Right. She'll probably just use that text to generate a month of drama. Never mind."or
"Wow! y would absolutely love to go to this show! What are the odds that her two favorite performers would share a stage? I should totally grab some tick—oh. Right. She slandered me good and proper. Never mind."
or
"These earrings are a perfect match for z's gold necklace. Holy crap. She would flip out! I should grab them before—oh. Right. She couldn't keep her knees together."
At least you can write off asinine financial investments and be done with them. These errors, on the other hand, just keep shedding precious capital in perpetuity.