so NOT the way to get me to do something

have you ever had one of those "friends"? maybe someone you knew casually or someone that you worked with but didn't socialize with outside of work?

i have one of those. someone that i USED to work with. someone who i was friendly enough with while we were working together, but not someone i'd consider a "friend" friend, if you know what i mean. i've never seen her outside of the work environment. we don't talk on the phone. we don't meet for lunch. she's an acquaintance. i don't dislike her by any means. we just don't hang out.

she's moving to las vegas next month. she had twins about a year - year and a half ago, on her own. she gets season tickets to the seattle mariners every year and usually when i hear from her it's as part of a mass mailing trying to sell tickets that she can't use.

so i got an email from her (not just to me, mind you) stating that she needed some help with her garage sale this weekend and with another one she has planned for 10/11 - 10/12 for anything she doesn't want to take that's left over after she packs up the moving van. i'm still unpacking from our move and my weekends have become my refuge. MY time. yes, it's time i share with vrock. he IS my husband after all. (and with him starting his new job this week, i've barely seen him as he's going in as i'm getting home and i go to bed right after he gets home.) i very occassionally will do something with a friend on the weekend. this saturday vrock will be going over to his brother's to watch the texas football game & then coming home sometime on sunday (i think before the cowboy game). which means i essentially have saturday to myself.

in theory i could go and help out at the garage sale. and i MIGHT have done just that. (another gal that we worked with, who i ADORE and who actually traveled down to vegas from seattle for my wedding, is going to go help out and i haven't seen her since june.)

except for this: "So, I beg…If you are my friend, can you please help on one of these days?"

if you are my friend? what?!?! i barely know this woman. it's not like we became real friends from working together and hang out all the time. or EVER! it just really rubbed me the wrong way. could i go and help her out? yeah, i probably could, even though i've been making a concerted effort to not drive around too much. (my car was doing some weird things a little while back and while it hasn't happened in about 1000 miles, i don't like to drive it very far.) one, gas is still expensive. two, she lives about 25 miles away. that roundtrip would take at least 1/4 tank of gas. three, even though vrock is working it's not a lot of money per hour and he won't get paid until next week for this week so money is really tight right now.

and of course, there's always the fourth reason: i don't like to be "guilted" into doing something. it just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. and seriously. the only people who i let get away with that are my mother, vrock (although he wisely doesn't try it often) and a few choice friends. real friends.

you know, the kind you'd go to jail for.