Also.
Now I remember why I was writing the last post. A YEAR ago, roughly, I was looking through my school's entries on the 'sdneirF* Re - un1ted' site and found a soul-mate-like message from a girl in my year who I didn't know at all while I was there. Amongst the endless dreary heads of academic departments with two children, she sprang out as having been so traumatised by the awfulness of the school that she needed years of therapy afterwards. AND she was a fascinating, world travelling photo-j0urnalist who lived in Paris.

My school was very, very academic and dry. Frivolities like art or even music were frowned on and getting into Oxbr1dge was our only goal. An 'A' was the the only mark recognised - any other was counted as a failure.

Her message was long and heart-rending and, although I have never re-contacted anyone from school before, I wrote her a rambling supportive reply and suggested we meet in Paris for a drink in the next few months. (How cool am I?). She did not answer. 'Typical', I thought, 'F-cking school. I hate it and especially her and I really wish I hadn't written. B1tch'. I have thought about it quite often since and imagined her reading my words with a contemptuous sneer and then deleting them. Worse, to cheer her up I had repeated some mean scandalous gossip about a mutual old class mate. Who I now decided was probably someone she really liked and kept in touch with. Bugger.

As I said - a year has passed - and today there is an e-mail from her. Charming, over the toply friendly, she can't believe that she never answered when she was so touched by my kindly gesture. But she was in the middle of moving from Franc3 to LA (!) and just forgot and now was clearing out her computer and there it was and will contact me the minute she is ever in L0ndon or P@ris ... etc., etc., gush, waffle ...

So .... assumptions .... hmmm. But why do they always seem to choose the down side of all the possibilities?

- posted by Iris @ 8/15/2004 11:57:00 AM comment