I just turned down a social invitation - and it’s not as if I get that many.
Basically, a long ago college buddy (circa 30 years ago) is visiting from Australia. He and another guy from college days wanted to meet up. One of them even wanted to pay my hotel bill, because he knows I’m not working.
BUT, the arrangements have been a fiasco from start to finish. The guy who’s coming over didn’t even mention it until last week some time. At first it was going to be Slough - not too bad for me, as it’s a straight run on the train. BUT he still couldn’t tell me dates or times, so I wasn’t able to go ahead and book train tickets or accommodation.
Then I didn’t hear anything until he posted on FB that he’d actually left Sydney for England. He must have known what he was doing by then - nobody flies to the other side of the world without knowing what they’re supposed to be doing when they get there.
But still no dates or times. Then all of a sudden, it’s not Slough, but Tipton (West Midlands) - never heard of it, and much harder to get to (got to change at Brum) - plus talking about next week, but still no confirmation of exactly where/what day, so still can’t book tickets or accommodation, and train fares are going up every day we delay (advance fares all gone now).
To cap it all, back has been out all week - was absolute agony a week ago, and has been alternately improving/worsening a bit for several days. Even though I travel light,I can’t risk setting back the recovery by hoiking luggage on and off a train.
I keep wondering if I could do it if I tried, and am just making excuses. I think one of the things that’s putting me off is that with less than a week to go, I still don’t know what I’m doing, or even which day for sure.
Even back trouble/money aside, I somehow can’t cope with still not knowing what I’m meant to be doing, and only finding out a day or two beforehand. I feel like a real spoilsport saying: “OK, enough, I’m not going to do it!” - especially when one of them was even willing to subsidise me. But is it unreasonable that someone who is ill and on a budget needs to know more than a week before if they are meant to be going away somewhere?
I’m feeling annoyed with my friend (the expat) because I can’t believe he has travelled all this way without having some idea of his itinerary, and I can’t understand what all the uncertainty and faffing about has been. He’s here for work, NOT some leisure trip where he’s a free agent, and might decide to go anywhere. So there must have been some sort of plan of where he’s going to be, and when. I don’t know why he couldn’t just share that with us, so we could make arrangements.
Instead of that, we are still piddling about (not even clear if he means Monday or Tuesday, or where in Tipton), and that is when I decided it’s too stressful, and I’m calling a halt.
I don’t know when - if ever - he will be in the UK again - so I might have passed up the only chance to see him. But I just can’t take it anymore.
Am I being silly or unreasonable?
Tina
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