Thursday, February 14, 2008

Jen, May I.......

Remember when I wrote about my orange mug?

And how possessive I was about it?

I suppose you all thought that was just an isolated incident?

But I’m here to tell you that it’s more than just the mug. It’s all things.

I just flat-out don’t like people to use my things, especially without asking permission first.

When I was in college and sharing an apartment with 5 other girls, this was a huge issue. I had a mug that had my name on it. Jennifer. One of my roommates insisted on using that mug even though her name was Rebecca. We must have had 20 other mugs but she preferred MY mug. This used to burn me up every time I saw her sipping her Nescafe coffee out of MY mug.

Or my boss, who thinks it is his sovereign right to rifle my desk drawers looking for wite-out or post-its. MY wite-out and MY post-its.

Or my sister-in-law (not Jenny, the other one) who comes to my house, makes herself at home by using MY computer without so much as a by-your-leave.

I fully realize that this is a failing.

But I have no interest in changing and if I am willing to live with it, then so should you.

So, internets, what have we learned today?

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

Jen, may I leave a comment on YOUR blog? Would you mind?

Jennifer (Jen on the Edge) said...

I have learned that you and I were separated at birth. It's unfortunate that we share the same first name, but we can blame our parents for that.

I personally hate to share my house with any of my in-laws, which makes weekend visits a test of endurance for me.

I personally hate to share a bathroom with my husband, but there's no room in the yard for an outhouse for him.

I personally hate to share this computer with my children, but they're too young for their own.

In general, I don't share well.

Anonymous said...

to never ever touch, look at, or even think about using Jen's [fill in the blank].

Dana said...

We touch, we die?

I am the same way. Unfortunately I've had to learn to give that up a bit when it comes to my office. Since I work in the Single's Department at the church, everyone is always in the office and inevitably using my tape, stapler, my (______). I finally learned to put out pens that are cheap so the ones I like would stop disappearing. :)

Knitting Kris said...

That whole mug thing made me irritated, and my name isn't even Jen. My college roomie used to eat MY chocolate, sent by MY Nana for ME. It seems that I have a bit of a problem as well. The thing is, I can share, JUST ASK ME FIRST - right? Let's all play nice in the sandbox! :) HA HA HA! LYS = Local yarn store/shop. You win the prize!

Ami said...

No toque! My sister once used this on a kid she babysat and it worked well. Too well, really, because he started saying it back to her.

I, too, had a college roommate who thought it was her duty to use my things and then pretend like she hadn't. Among other things, she would wear my perfume, which I would recognize in the air when I returned from my early classes on days when I hadn't sprayed it. When I finally confronted her about it, she acted like I was the one being unreasonable. Did she pay $50 for the perfume? I don't think so.

So, I can totally relate. If you don't ask, don't touch. And even if you do ask, don't assume I'll let you touch.

Anonymous said...

Don't mess with Jen's shit.

I think I remember Mr. Rogers doing that lesson.

Anonymous said...

Liz: (takes a long slurp from the Jennifer mug) That Nescafe sucks?

Anonymous said...

I've learned that I love that you're back to blogging. And better than ever. Oh,,, and to never ask to share your Oreo's.

Anonymous said...

OH I HEAR YA!!!!!!

I don't mind sharing as long as one asks before they decide to borrow. It just burns my buns to walk in and find someone rifling through my desk. I have everything exactly where I want it and they go rumbling around messing things up and putting things were they don't belong.......
I just want to yell "GET OUT OF MY PERSONAL SPACE!!"

And I can't even start to tell you how I get when I discover someone has borrowed something that they didn't ask if they could borrow and then they don't give it back so it's not there when you need it and you have to go searching for it.

Well, enough about me...

Robbie