Coulda, Shoulda, Woulda

Carrie Bradshaw (aka Sarah Jessica Parker from Sex in the City) once said:

"As we drive along this road called life, occasionally a gal will find herself a little lost. And when that happens, I guess she has to let go of the coulda, shoulda, woulda, buckle up and just keep going."

Middle school was not a fun time for me. You see, there were these two girls named Shannon and Allie who made my life miserable. They were my "friends." Friends in the sense that they made fun of me every single second they could, would prank call my house, and said very mean things that I can still remember to this day. Sticks and stones didn't break my bones, but their mean words definitely hurt me. I was getting so many prank phone calls that we were one of the first homes I knew of that got caller IDs installed. Needless to say, when high school rolled along I was more than excited to ditch the bitch(es).

I consider myself a pretty nice person. I forgive somewhat easily and I can get on with my life. But there has always been a lingering resentment and anger towards Shannon and Allie, so imagine my shock when I saw Shannon standing in the hallway of my office tonight.

Oh. Yes. Seven-foot tall Shannon Coffey was. standing. in. MY. office. (Oh, and I'm not exaggerating about her being seven feet tall...ask anyone...) The second I saw her I shuddered inside and went back to being middle-school Jessica, wondering if she was going to bring the party to a halt by screaming some embarrassing story from my past.

Then I remembered that she was in my house. MY turf. I mentioned to some of my coworkers that my arch enemy was about 10 feet away (and filled them in on part of my history with her) and they all immediately told me I should kick her out. Not only that, but they said they'd back me up!

I wish I could say I walked right up to her and told her that she wasn't welcome at this party and that she would need to leave immediately. And I should've told her how being a mean person does have it's consequences, even if it comes later in life; that the way you treat people is how you can and will be seen for years to come. But I didn't. Even though I know I'm successful at what I'm doing, seeing her again made me cringe and made me want to go crawl back inside my shell. So I let her wander around my new office knowing that I was the one with a successful and amazing job.

Coulda. Shoulda. Woulda...