My friend Jan had the following line in one of her posts…..”thing with an expiration date.” I didn’t really notice it the first time I read through. When I re-read it over the weekend, it really struck me. That is so very true. My friendship with the N had an expiration date before the relationship had even started.
It was several months after the “frie…N…dship” was over that I realized that I had only been a ‘thing’ to the N. As in a previous post, I made the analogy that I was merely a “pink plastic spoon.” That realization was one of the most painful moments that I have ever had. Someone that I shared thoughts with, trusted as a confidante, listened to his problems, the kinds of things that a good friend does…to the N, I was just a thing.
Had I known that my “Best if Used by Date” was fast approaching, I could have made my escape from his “refrigerator of devalue and discard” before I was used up and left to become moldy leftover in the vegetable drawer!
You can read Jan’s complete post – “Close Encounter With A Narcissist Part 3″ @ www.planetjan.wordpress.com
Unfortunately, the relationship usually goes “off” well before the expiration date. I’ve come to realize that the “best if used by” analogy is an apt one. Sometimes it’s ultimately the victim who needs to set the expiration date, as in, “From this date on, I refuse to be used!”