This weekend is shaping up to be perfect: the weather forecast is promising, I’ve finished all my work, and my good friends Sarah and EJ, whom I love, are in town for a few days simply to spend unstructured, quality time with me. Here’s how I’m going to make this event the most stressful thing that’s ever happened to me.
Sarah and EJ have made it clear they don’t have any expectations for this weekend. Somehow, I’ll still feel immense amounts of pressure to make sure they have a good time, and even when they are having a good time, I’ll be sure to ask them if they’re having a good time over and over, such that the act of asking negates the good time altogether! They’ll spend so much time convincing me they’re enjoying themselves that none of us will ever feel relaxed. And that’s just the beginning!
My friends from back home are beyond excited to meet all the new friends I’ve made in the city, and my new friends are excited to meet Sarah and EJ, too! I’ll spend hours painstakingly planning a meet-up between the old and new buds, then spend the entire duration of the hang stressed about whether they’re getting along! I’ll also be sure to agonize internally over whether they actually like each other or are just pretending for my sake, and if they hit it off extremely well, I’ll pivot to worrying that they’ll become better friends with each other than I am with either of them.
This whole ordeal will send me into a spiral about why I consider my friends to be reflections of myself, why I care so much about what they think of each other, and what all that says about me. I love when worlds collide!
EJ has been adamant that he doesn’t mind sleeping on the blowup mattress in our living room, but I refuse to take him at his word. I’ll spend every morning tip-toeing around the mattress, afraid to make any noise, but he’ll already be awake – my roommate makes coffee at 6:30! EJ will be poorly rested, I’ll be poorly rested, and everyone will be too afraid to say anything about it at the risk of seeming ungrateful. Oh, joy!
We’re all hyper-aware of how rare it is to have time to spend with one another, and as a result, we’ll spend every day getting a little sad that the day is almost over. Each glorious hour we spend together brings us one step closer to the end of the visit! And by the time it is over, it’ll take me a week to recover. Can’t wait!
