So, this was a post I originally did on the old blog, so I am transferring it.
Do you ever wonder what drives people to pick up their bad habits? Some people are constantly nervous and need a downer to help them get through the day, so they smoke. Some need to blow off steam, and they drink. Some pick up hobbies, some gamble, some end up in worse things, like drugs or abusive relationships. I call these things habits based solely on the fact that no matter what kind of damage the habit causes, these people tend to go right back to doing it when things have calmed down.
Case in Point: My coworker and sometimes friend, Elena.
Elena is sweet, bright, and the life of our business. When she is on, she is very good. When she is off, however, her life takes another turn. She is an excessive drinker, party animal, and has been caught in various bad situations, including, but not limited to, waking up next to men she doesn't even know, sleeping with men she would have never taken a glance at otherwise, getting a brand at a local seedy bar,
The Meet Rack, so she could get the 50 cents off of her drinks for life, and even waking up, sans shoes and underwear, covered in mosquitoes on her ex boyfriend's lawn. You would think that something
that bad, not knowing how she got there, or where she lost the various items she was no longer wearing, would have scared the living shit out of her. Nope. The following two weeks or so lead to better behavior. It was straight downhill from there.
As a Psych major, I have tried to come up with reasons for Elena's erratic behavior. I have met her family, and although her mother seems to be trying to act younger than her years, her family is very close, and open. This could be outward appearances; I make no claims to being an expert on her interactions with her family by any means. From the outsider's point of view, though, these things should have been dealt with already. They haven't been, and they are getting worse.
Elena called me at work yesterday, because she wanted to take today off. A friend of hers (the girl that had consequently left her by herself after the branding at Meet Rack) had been murdered. I informed her first, that I was sorry to hear that something like that had occurred, and secondly that her day was filling up fast, and it might be better if she came into work to get her mind off of what had happened. The next thing I said wasn't meant to come out vocally, but it didn't occur to me
not to say it until it was too late.
"You're going to be next if you don't slow down and start being careful."
I know everyone was thinking it, but nobody has actually put it into such blunt terms to her before. I know my timing was poor; her friend had just passed away, and I was being sort of cruel. I really didn't mean to say it out loud. I know she's going to be angry with me when I see her. However... if I made her think about her choices, if I held up that mirror in front of her and she's actually taking a look at the direction her life is going... if the thought even crosses her mind for a second that maybe I did it because I care about her, then I will have regretted nothing. I don't want to attend her funeral, and maybe now, she will keep that in mind.
