The Usual Suspects

Anyone who knows me would probably describe me as a people person.   I like to think I'm an easygoing guy, and I get along well with most of the people I meet.   There are, however, exceptions.  Here is one of them:

 

That smug underage drinker you're looking at is Rommie's younger brother, Xander.   It's hard to believe Xander and Rommie were raised by the same parents.   Rommie is a lovely person.  She's kind and generous, and she's a great listener, and she has loads of common sense.   Xander., on the other hand, is an idiot. 

Okay, that's not really fair.   Xander isn't stupid.   He's actually quite clever, but he's also an obnoxious pain in the ass.   One of his greatest pleasures in life seems to be tormenting me as often as possible.   He likes to hide things from me or move the furniture around so I'll bump into it.  He makes fun of me all the time and generally just seems to enjoy having a laugh at my expense.   I've tried everything I can think of to make him stop.   I've even told Sapphire what's going on, although I'm not usually a tattle-tale.   She's had a few chats with him, but nothing much ever seems to penetrate.   Xander does what he wants. 

Xander is 18, so he's younger than me.  He's definitely less mature than me.   I know I shouldn't let his teasing and his stupid pranks get to me but, the truth is, being ridiculed like that really hurts. 

I talk to Sapphire about it sometimes, when I'm feeling really bad.   She gets it.  People at her school made fun of her because of her disability when she was a kid, and she knows how much it hurts.   She says there are always going to be people like Xander out there, but that I shouldn't believe the hurtful things they say about me, because none of it is true.   I really try to follow that advice.  I like who I am and I accept that I'm different, but it's hard to ignore somebody who's constantly pointing out just how different I am. 

I like Sini's opinion on the subject.   "We are all different," she says.  "Every being is unique." 

Sini doesn't consider my blindness as a disability.  She calls it a variation.    To her, my blindness is no more or less significant than the fact that I have curly hair.   It's just part of the total package.  Maybe that's one of the reasons I feel so safe with Sini.   I have nothing to prove to her., no barriers to break through.  She loves and accepts me exactly as I am.  

Ironically enough, another person I don't have to try hard to impress is Xander's best friend, Radek.   This is him:

Radek is from the Czech Republic.   He's only 16 years old, but I think he's mature for his age.  He's really smart and speaks four languages fluently.   He really likes languages, so Sapphire has been teaching him French, and Sini has been trying to teach him her native language, too.  At the rate he's going, he'll be the only Erisan-speaking human in existence.  If that doesn't help to earn him a Ph.D. some day, nothing will. 

Radek is a nice kid.   Sometimes, I worry about him hanging around with Xander, because i think Xander is a decidedly bad influence on him.   Sapphire says I shouldn't worry about that.  Radek is intelligent enough to know right from wrong, and he's mature enough to make up his own mind.   I guess Sapphire is right, but it's hard not to be concerned.   I don't want to end up living with another version of Xander.   I'm pretty sure I'm not prepared to deal with that.