(She wants me to believe that I'm at fault all the time. Well, I don't claim to be perfect, but I'm also sure I'm not always wrong.)
In the meantime, I just don't know how anyone else puts up with her either ...
The other day I overheard her spouting an ignorant opinion as fact, words measured, but her tone was superior and haughty, to someone who definitely knew the topic under discussion FAR better than her. It was fleeting, but the tone of the replies she got suggested that this person found her tiresome.
And, yesterday, a friend of hers called to collect her to go out shopping. Mother answered the door, merely tells the poor woman that she has to shut the door and does so, right in her face. And my mother didn't even attempt to explain why, until after she'd collected her things and went out again and, even then, was just rattling on nonsensically and incoherently about "we're not really sure" of something to do with not letting the cats out.
Only minutes earlier she'd left the back door wide open. And there's nothing whatsoever unsure about it. The cats are not behaving in any way settled enough to be allowed out alone safely. On the contrary, they're behaving scared and skittish, therefore I'M ABSOLUTELY SURE they cannot go.
When the friend had phoned earlier to ask her to go shopping - and bear in mind that shopping is my mother's absolute favourite pastime - I'd have thought she'd have been more than happy to receive the invitation and go. No. She tells me she's going, sighing as if reluctantly resigned to some dreadful fate, then asked, with a slightly snarky tone, if that would be alright with me.
And I resisted (that'll shock a few people, since it's not my usual nature to demonstrate restraint) the rhetorical question in response, because I already knew it would make no sodding difference whether it was OK with me or not. And nor was I going to profess an opinion that she would use against me later. And I couldn't care less anyway. Well, the peace would be nice.
So I treated her question with all the respect it deserved and said absolutely nothing and, of course, there's nothing more irritating to a self-absorbed person than being ignored, is there? So then she had to find something else to say and waffled on about how she normally turns down these invitations.
Like bloody hell she does! Presumably, she thinks I haven't noticed all the other shopping trips she's been on in the last couple of months, that she's told me about before and spoken about after then, or assumes that I've forgotten about her telling me - several times over the phone over the years - that she particularly likes shopping with this woman because she has good taste.
This was just rattling, merely for effect, nervously and to draw attention to herself, which likewise deserved and got absolutely no verbal response from me. And, where's the grateful for this woman bothering to phone her up and ask, drive over here to pick her up, take her out, bring her back?
Remind me always: do not feed the trolls!
