Thanks, divine. I've known this friend for many years. I know her to be someone who will test limits to see what response she will get. She is smart, educated and I believe she knows perfectly well that it is not polite to phone people at 10:15 p.m. to say, "Hey, did you see what I saw in the news today?" I've seen her impose on others to the extent she could get away with. It's like she tests people to see how big a fool a person is. That may beg the question as to why do I even want her for a friend. Well . . . I figure I have my faults too. At times, in the past, I have found her interesting to converse with. She can be decent company. I've enjoyed meeting her for lunch. We've done some fun things together. COVID has taken away so many options for ways we could spend time together that would be interesting. We've gone to movies and plays and concerts together. I look forward to doing stuff like that with her again. Thanks to the current restrictions, we are limited to just conversing. Also, thanks to COVID, we have little going on in our lives to provide subject matter.

I ask her about her experiences over the course of her life, which she loves telling me about. It's like I'm a talk show host and she is my celebrity guest. She really is a tad narcissistic.

I seem to be a magnet for people who tend to be self-absorbed. About 12 years ago, I got burned out on people calling me to talk about themselves and their lives. These same people had little interest in hearing about me. I got tired of doing all the listening. So I started cutting down on my availability. These emotional leeches drifted away, and I sure didn't miss them.

I thought, after my bf died, that I'ld be so glad of company on any terms. That was true for a while. I got hospitalized for serious depression. While, in the psych hospital. I found that my intense grief was relieved whenever I was making small talk with anyone about anythjng. Usually, I was open to what anyone wanted to talk about, which usually was about themselves. Even staff were sitting down with me telling me all about their workplace grievances. I guess I can be a good listener. Now I don't need that constant distraction.

I guess I have to eventually seek out people who are more reciprocal.