Huh. I don't actually want revenge.
Not even against the "friends" who tried to talk Paul into calling off the wedding at his bachelor party. (I didn't learn about it until years later, and while it stung and still does to an extent, I figure they're poopyheads and anyhow, they lost Paul's friendship as a result.)
I just kind of want one or two psycho exes (one physically abusive, one mentally, because the fire looked so warm and comforting after the frying pan) to disappear off the face of the planet so I don't ever have to worry about running into them.
I'm gonna live FOREVER!
And I'm gonna live even longer.
Man, I am en route to be the God of Grumpitude!
Also, favorite new word; Humbleocity!
And another '!' for good measure...
I don't want vengeance against anyone. I am content in the "living well" thang.
Shit. I'm single, live in LA (in a great part of LA to boot), have pretty hair, am surrounded by interesting people, have a book deal, AND have the best nephew EVAR!
Life, while annoying, is mostly good.
A lot of the people who have caused me injury and aggravation have either been punished by the criminal justice system or karma.
I'm reserving all vengeance on behalf of my nephew, should he ever need it. Auntie Allyson knows a lot of people. My wrath shall be swift and merciless should anyone cause him pain.
Right?
ETA: He is 2 years old, today!
I don't really want to hurt the people they are *now*
Yeah. I hear you. There were points at which seeing the people in question suffer would have cheered me. Points much closer to the pain. Mostly, though, I'd have preferred the suffering to happen in a time/fashion that'd have stopped them from doing the full extent of the things that caused me the pain in the first place.
Don't get me wrong--I'm not an overly forgiving person. There are grudges I expect to hold until I die, people I have no intention of caring a bout, or even speaking less than tersely to ever again.
But that's not much of a punishment.
ETA: He is 2 years old, today!
How lovely! Turn two, the rest are food!
How do you pronounce schadenfreude again?
I don't really want to hurt the people they are *now*
I learned this lesson with the help of the wisdom of Billy Connolly. He has a song called "Tha Janny" about a janitor that tormented him when he was at school, and how his small self vowed eternal hatred and revenge. He encounters him later in life.
"If ah'd laid a haund upon hem, ma mates woulda murdured me
...
a perr wee sowwel is tha janny."
A poor little soul is the janny.
The problem with vengeance is that it's a poor substitute for vindication.
I'd love vengeance or vindication for my evil ex-boss, who lied to me, about me, and treated me like shit on a job that started so promisingly and that I'd moved across the country to take. I fantasized for several years about making him pay, but nothing ever seemed like it would work, and it wouldn't ever get what I wanted, which was for him to admit that he was wrong and had mistreated me.
Because no matter what happened, he was never going to admit that I was right. So.
