Jealous friends.

saracelica

saracelica

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saracelica
So my husband and I got this nice new Oak dining room table. Had some friends over for dinner. One of the friends says "This is a nice table" The other couple agreed and then started looking at and said "Yeah my uncle could make one like this and probably for not as much as you paid."

That's great and I care because why? They live in a small apartment and complain they don't have money and have to pay all this money in student loans. Why not just be happy for someone else with what they have and not want it as well! Geez.

~K
 
"Good for you and your uncle, friend."

"yeah - well ... my oak is nicer than your oak! I grew it myself! And then cut it down, hand hewed the planks and built the table from scratch." :D

Some folks just lack social graces. I have one friend who always, without fail, finds flaws in other folks' things (or maybe just mine?) and points them out. One day I may confront him on it, but so far, I just let it roll off my back.
 
You'll learn to smile and enjoy your gracious superiority over such boorish behavior.

Some distant family members were notorious for this sort of thing. Of course they always had better experiences, stuff, and stories.

You know the type: You're sitting around and someone asks about your week and you say, "Oh yeah, last week I went over Niagara Falls in a rowboat..."

And Boor #1 has to reply, "That's nuthin, I went over it on a Coffee Cup Lid -- twice..."

A variant on this is Boor #2: "That's nuthin, I bought a T shirt on sale at Dollar General..."
 
Try not to take all comments to heart. When people talk, 'stuff comes out'. It's not always the best stuff that comes out, and sometimes they regret saying it later. Each of us has put our foot in our mouth and felt like an idiot at some time. Mine was pretty much born there.
If someone is continuously putting you down, constantly saying harsh things that is a different matter. If it is an occasional thing, assess it differently.
This is one of the fun things of being human, and sharing time with other humans!
 
I have friends that are CFI's/Multi Engine/Commercial. Sure those letters on my soon to be license would be really cool and I may get them some point but if a friend just got it I wouldn't say "Yeah I should work on my Multi....Commercial too" I say "Wow, Congratulatons! That was alot of work" Geez!
 
Somebody always has more resources than oneself. Always. If one spends their entire lives in envy, it's a wasted life. :(
 
saracelica;752301"Yeah my uncle could make one like this and probably for not as much as you paid." ~K[/QUOTE said:
Yeah, but since I am not a leech that is going to take advantage of an uncle, by the time I paid him not only for the materials, but also a fair compensation for hist time and skill, it would have cost me just as much. But I bet he has some really nice furniture that he can be proud of.

No, you don't really say those things, but you can think them.
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The key to avoiding all this is to not have any local friends.
 
saracelica said:
"Yeah my uncle could make one like this and probably for not as much as you paid."
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It's amusing how many people COULD do _____ better, cheaper, faster, more efficient than you can. They don't actually ever do it mind you, but they could if they wanted to. ( B! F! S! )

The other thing that is annoying as all get out are the people who tell you that YOU can't do something. What that really means is that THEY can't do it and are trying to drag you down to their level of incompetence.

Why not just be happy for someone else with what they have and not want it as well! Geez.
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Everyone has to feel superior to someone...especially when they're not.


This is the primary reason I did a major housecleaning of friends a while back. The very few that survived the axe are keepers for life. The others are gone.
 
Wait until they find out that you fly.
 
The key to avoiding all this is to not have any local friends.
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Yes but how would such a person feel, after 80 years of doing that? I would think twice about such an approach. Huge opportunity to lose big.
 
EdFred said:
The key to avoiding all this is to not have any local friends.
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"I have no need for friendship,
Friendship causes pain,
It's laughter and its loving I disdain,
I AM A ROCK . . . "
 
Life is too short to worry about what others have.
 
Wow, that was a petty comment sara - but maybe it was intended to be a tongue in cheek comment just to push your buttons?
 
My dad does stuff like that all the time. We go to Cabelas down here, "the one in WV is better." We go to the zoo, "the one in Pittsburgh has this and this and it's nicer." We go to some local gardens, "the flowers back home are brighter."

No matter what we do, it's always better somewhere else. You'd swear he had a miserable time, but then when he goes home, he tells everyone what a great time he had and the nice things we saw.

He's the same way about things that cost money. He can afford a lot of nice things, but hoards his money as much as possible. I have to buy him clothes for his birthday and Christmas because he refuses to buy clothes because "they cost too much." He thinks things should still cost what they did back in the 60s. Sure we'd all like that, but it's not going to happen.

I've learned to accept that's the way he is.
 
My dad does stuff like that all the time.
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Ha! I also have a beloved family mmbr that does such things, bless their heart.
One event years ago still causes us great mirth.

I was seeding a lawn, having a hard time with the irrigation system plus the terribly hot & dry weather. Said fam. mmbr came to visit and upon inspecting the (rather pitiful) lawn related these helpful and encouraging words;
"So. Are you going to just leave it like that and call it a lawn?"

As a result, we now have this great way of humorous criticism of each other around the house, "So. Are you going to just leave the dishes like that and call them clean?!" "Those windows. Are you going to leave them all streaky and just call them done?!"

:D:D
 
"So. Are you going to just leave it like that and call it a lawn?"

~~~~~~~ Hey, it's West Texas - at least it's not just rocks.
 
saracelica said:
So my husband and I got this nice new Oak dining room table. Had some friends over for dinner. One of the friends says "This is a nice table" The other couple agreed and then started looking at and said "Yeah my uncle could make one like this and probably for not as much as you paid."
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If their uncle wanted such a table and decided it build it, he could undoubtedly build it for less than you paid. Unless, of course, his labor is factored into it.

I just got done building a new computer desk from scratch. After 25 years of complaining about the junk pile that I had been using (and had originally be assembled to support my VIC-20), I started with a clean sheet of paper and went from there. It's got cable pass-throughs, multiple regular drawers, slide-out cable storage, a slide-out battery charging shelf, built-in USB, ethernet, and phone lines, and 12 power outlets connected to a master switch (plus a exterior standard outlet for plugging in a laptop).

It cost me something like $400 to build out of oak. But it also took a TON of hours, even with a reasonably equipped shop (table saw, bandsaw, routers, etc). There's no way I'd commit to doing one of these for someone else without seriously jacking up the price.

Next time anyone uses that line to you, just smile and say, "We need a [furniture object] too... ask your uncle what he'd charge us." And keep pestering them for a price quote.

Ron Wanttaja
 
Mandy said:
I have to buy him clothes for his birthday and Christmas because he refuses to buy clothes because "they cost too much." He thinks things should still cost what they did back in the 60s. Sure we'd all like that, but it's not going to happen.
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I think clothes still do cost what they did in the '60s. Back then a man had to work for half a day or more just to buy a shirt. Now he can buy two or three shirts for an hour's pay. Shoot, there isn't much excuse to go around ragged.

Dan
 
Dan Thomas said:
I think clothes still do cost what they did in the '60s. Back then a man had to work for half a day or more just to buy a shirt. Now he can buy two or three shirts for an hour's pay. Shoot, there isn't much excuse to go around ragged.

Dan
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Sure there is - some of hate to go clothes shopping.
 
Dan Thomas said:
I think clothes still do cost what they did in the '60s. Back then a man had to work for half a day or more just to buy a shirt. Now he can buy two or three shirts for an hour's pay. Shoot, there isn't much excuse to go around ragged.

Dan
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Wow, you either make a bunch more than I do per hour, or you shop at garage sales. My last shirt cost about 40 bucks. That would mean $120/hour or about $250k/yr, assuming no overtime, bonuses or benefits.
 
JOhnH said:
Wow, you either make a bunch more than I do per hour, or you shop at garage sales. My last shirt cost about 40 bucks. That would mean $120/hour or about $250k/yr, assuming no overtime, bonuses or benefits.
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Yeah, but you can buy a 3 pack of Hanes t-shirts for like $7.99. He didn't say what kind of shirt. But yeah, I bought five shirts last months and the total was over $200
 
saracelica said:
So my husband and I got this nice new Oak dining room table. Had some friends over for dinner. One of the friends says "This is a nice table" The other couple agreed and then started looking at and said "Yeah my uncle could make one like this and probably for not as much as you paid."
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Ah, congratulations! You've got yourself a 100% Genuine Topper.
 
JOhnH said:
Wow, you either make a bunch more than I do per hour, or you shop at garage sales. My last shirt cost about 40 bucks. That would mean $120/hour or about $250k/yr, assuming no overtime, bonuses or benefits.
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I must be a redneck. I buy Wal-Mart shirts for $8 or $10. I see the same Chinese sort of shirts in other places for $40 and $60. Why should I think they're any better? Besides, I tend to be hard on clothes (always fixing something) and the $40 shirt doesn't last any longer or look any better once I've used it a few times.

Dan
 
Dan Thomas said:
I must be a redneck. I buy Wal-Mart shirts for $8 or $10. I see the same Chinese sort of shirts in other places for $40 and $60. Why should I think they're any better? Besides, I tend to be hard on clothes (always fixing something) and the $40 shirt doesn't last any longer or look any better once I've used it a few times.

Dan
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Have you seen the movie, "Zoolander"?

I think you're spot-on.
 
I posted this not for people to feel bad for me. Just a reminder that not everyone has what you have and you can't have everything you're friends do. Be happy for those people that show you something they have that is new. If you don't you may be left out of the "list" of people they share ANY news. Just a thought. :)
 
I have friends who feel the need to one-up others on just about everything. I found myself doing it for a bit, but recognized the habit and have desisted. These days I just nod and smile.
 
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