Everybody has a Gretchen

This morning,Lillianna was wondering whether she should wear ankle socks,peds or no socks with her furry clogs. I told her to wear whatever she felt more comfortable in. She thought someone might say something in school about her choice. I shrugged and said,"Well,everybody has a Gretchen." She said,"Ya....there's a Gretchen in Are you there God,it's me Margaret."

I laughed and said,"I didn't mean that everyone actually knows a Gretchen. I just meant there is always a Gretchen-like person in everyone's life."
Her next question was no surprise."Who is Gretchen,Mom?"

I explained that Gretchen was a girl who was friends with my best friend,Liane from 7th grade until we graduated. Liane was kind and sweet so she could tolerate Gretchen better than I could but she still got on her nerves.

If you got your hair cut,her usual comment was,"Ohhhhh.....you cut your hair.................Why did you do that? It looked better before." If you wore a new outfit to school,you might hear,"Wow! That's really interesting. I saw that in the store but there was no way I was going to buy it. You're really brave."

Lillianna just nodded her head. She knows. We all know. There's always one girl who tries to make others just feel bad. I didn't have the patience that Liane had so my response was usually snippy.

In 10th grade,I started dating a boy from another town. Gretchen's first question was,"What kind of car does he drive?" I told her I didn't know. I barely know what kind of car I drive now! She said,"Well,Mike drives a Trans-Am!" I went to school with Mike and yes,he had a nice car but he wasn't exactly boyfriend material. I said,"Well,I'd rather have a great boyfriend with an unknown car than have a mediocre boyfriend with a nice car!" She turned around in her chair and made a "Hmmmmph!" sound. I don't remember hearing any comments from her after that.

I don't think she was a bad person but she did like to put others down. I don't have much tolerance for that type of person. I like people to feel good about themselves and to be happy. Life is short. We should be kind to others just like we hope they'll be kind to us. Still,there is always that one girl...........

Who was your Gretchen?