Soft balls. THAT sounds like an interesting topic for new-Dan to tackle!

*Inserts "sexual" next to "favor"*

Yeeeeeeah….I had heard of this rare and terrible creature, but never expected to find one within my own ranks!

Great Jeorb, Internet, indeed!

I'm so, so happy to hear that it turned out to be a positive experience for you in the end, even without the friendship lasting.

Oh, you are not wrong, not at all! What he did was DEFINITELY abuse no matter how young and dumb we were, and realizing that was why I had to get out.

It makes me sad that you had to go through that, but you also bring up some very valuable points, such as being able to get closure from the second chance. I think it's very important, if you (general "you") go the second chance route, that you treat it as a learning experience, and not as a given that "we're gonna…

Wow. You have NAILED what I'm hoping to achieve (and which I worry I'm not articulating well in my original post, because I always worry). Whether it all works out well or not, I'll be closing an old open wound and won't wonder anymore about "what could have been" because I'm making the effort to find out now. Maybe…

"Set boundaries and stick by them" is not just some of the best possible advice for my situation, but for everyone's life in general. Thank you for bringing that up. And I'm glad to hear you've been able to move on—sometimes that's the best thing you can do for yourself.

This whole guest article is brilliance incarnate. You done good, Dan. (Both of you.)

Your comment hits so close to home, because it definitely broke my heart too, having to walk away. But what this guy is doing to you (as mine did to me) is manipulative abusive shit, and you've already done the right thing in stepping out and taking care of yourself in this situation by not letting him continue to do…

It is wonderful to hear that you've apologized! For me, that's one of the most important things a person can do, next to taking actions that show they really ARE sorry and trying to change or have changed. We haven't gotten to apologies yet (I hurt him too in retaliation, but it was nothing like what he'd done).…

My own skepticism is definitely why it took me a decade and a half to say "what the hell—I'm sick of us avoiding each other around our mutual friends, and I'm not afraid of him anymore" and decide to bury the hatchet. But said hatchet is only about an inch under the ground, in case I need it again. I hope someday I'll…

I've unfortunately had friends go down this path, and only one grew up and grew out of it. The others are all a sad case of having had entitlement issues their whole lives, as well as being unable to take even the most polite and constructive criticism. It's an awful combination because it feeds into itself endlessly.

Musings On The Strange(r) Things Life Puts In Your Path

S-E-E
R-O-C-K
C-I-T-Y

fat "large and in charge" mouthy, ghetto trash loser. It's disgusting and they're not appealing to ANYONE.

Then "most (99%+) white men" should stop being racist little no-pricks.

From the Southeast as well, 37 years old. Heard "ginger" all my life, and not just in the phrase "ginger ale."

I had no idea how badly I wanted this until now.