A friend referred me to a friend of hers who (she thought) might be able to help with my current work project. 

Said second-hand friend ripped my head off and then went on about what an insult the below-market rate is, yadda yadda yadda, and her friend *knows* she doesn't do that kind of work, and basically how dare I crawl out from under a rock to disturb her. 

I asked if she was always this barky, to which she retorted no; she's a professional "and has standards."  

Hm. Standards for spewing unfettered hostility at strangers who come by way of mutual friends, perhaps. 

I used to take this kind of thing incredibly personally.  Of course, my Evil Twin has various devastating snark-back answers running through her mind, but really, they're not worth spending energy on. Nor is such a hostile, hateful person in the first place. 

I'm sort of beyond mere 'dismissiveness', though, too, these days. This kind of encounter reminds me that there are many people in the world who clutch hurts and angers close to their hearts, and vent that bitterness and vitriol at chance and chosen targets whenever they like. Besides the fact that that says reams about the wounded child kicking dogs, I also finally Got It (in the last decade or so) that that's really, truly Not About Me. 

So, good energy to the second-hand friend. I hope she discovers a happier nature within herself some day.  

Until then, she's in my PLONK* file.





*  a Usenet-ism, meaning an email address (and person) you filter or delete out of newsgroup postings because the author is an irritant you can no longer be bothered with.