I'm Going to Beat You

In my Organizational Behavior class in college, Prof. White taught us the difference between Type A and Type B personalities. As most of you know, Type A's are the real go-getters. They're the ones who never know how to relax and are never quite satisfied with what they have. In addition, they have an internal competitive drive that keeps them going. Type B personalities, on the other hand, are very laid back and much less competitive.

I'm somewhere in the middle of Type A and Type B, with more of me leaning towards the A side. I guess that's the part of me that finds the idea of business school thrilling. It's that part of me that wants to take a simple idea and create an entire empire out of it.

But for those of you who know me best, you'll know that I'm not really that competitive of a person. In fact, I bet that most of you think that I'll be eaten alive in business school. Well, it's true. I'm not very competitive. In the important things, that is.

I find that I'm highly competitive when it comes to things that are irrelevant. Whenever I go to the gym to run on the treadmill, I will not get off until the person next to me gets off. It doesn't matter if I've run 1 mile or 10 miles. There's no need for me to be competing against the person next to me, but it always works. I always run better if there is someone on the treadmill next to me. Similarly, if I'm at the self-checkout at the grocery store, I will race the person at the station next to me. I will internally race them to make sure that I finish checking out my groceries before them. And when I do beat them, I do a silent victory dance.

But for the things that actually matter, I don't have a competitive bone inside of me. In college, I was consistently failing orgo tests, despite the fact that all my friends aced them with flying colors. This never seemed to motivate me to study any harder.

What's wrong with me? I recently brought this point up to one of my really good friends, and his only statement was, "You're such a guy." Is that true? Is this what guys are like? As far as I know, I don't actually know anyone else out there who acts like this.

I'll Call You...

I've always been an avid gamer, from Monopoly to Scrabble to Battleship and everything in between. But I've never appreciated mind games or games that involved people's feelings.

Someone please explain this situation to me:

You met a nice guy and spend an entire evening talking and laughing. When the evening ends, you're ready to just go home and leave it at that. You've always been one to believe in fate. If you're meant to be with that person, your paths will cross again. Well, he's not that kind of guy. He compliments your thoroughly and asks for your number so you can go out again. You willingly give him your number and a quick kiss before you leave. Things are sounding good right?

Two weeks pass and he still hasn't called. You decide to take matters into your own hands and get his number from a friend. After all, this is the 21st century. Girls can be the one asking guys out. You call him and get his voicemail. You leave a nonchalant message and leave it at that. He calls you back the next day and leaves you a voicemail. The voicemail sounds nice and friendly, almost as if he's been waiting for you to call. You call him back that night, but it's the voicemail again. The weekend passes and he still hasn't called you back. So after the weekend, you try again. Once again, it's the voicemail. He calls you back the next day and leaves an apologetic voicemail. He's been busy and he's sorry that he didn't have a chance to call you back. He tells you to call him back. You call him back that night. It's been a week and he still hasn't called you back. You try again, but to no avail, it's the voicemail again. You wish him a Happy Thanksgiving and leave it at that. You still haven't heard from him.

Can someone explain this situation to me? Is this some kind of weird mind game that I'm just not aware of? Why would a guy pretend to be interested but never call you? If he was never interested, why did he ask for my phone number in the first place? And when I called him the first time, why did he bother calling back if he wasn't interested? Have I just been out of the dating game for so long that I don't understand the rules anymore?

The Wizard of Northbrook

Apparently I've caved and decided to join the blog bandwagon. For those of you who know me best, you know that I don't like things that are mainstream, but I guess that this is different. I recently came across an old journal and realized how much I missed writing down all my thoughts and ideas. Maybe it's that "wanted-to-be-a-Medildo" side of me coming out.

Happy Black Friday! It's the day after Thanksgiving, and I must admit that I was not brave enough to hit the malls today. There's something about fighting everyone else in the city of Chicago for that one $10 wireless router that just doesn't appeal to me. So instead, I stayed in at my parents' house and gorged myself on Thanksgiving leftovers. In addition, I watched oodles and oodles of cable. It's slightly sickening to stuff your face and watch specials about food at the same time. Some might be ill by that idea, but luckily, not me.

After all these years of not living with my parents, I must admit that I miss it. It's nice to be back at the home where you grew up and very little has changed. Sure, there's a new TV or a new bathroom, but it's still pretty much the same. And no one can deny that it's nice to have parents to dote on you and to constantly feed you.

I used to think that my parents and I would never get along, because our generation gap was just too large. They were just a little bit too conservative, and I was just a bit too liberal. But despite all our differences, we've managed to get along much better now that I'm older. They're slowly starting to realize that I'm different from them. I'm not that traditional daughter who's going to get married and to live my life in the shadow of my husband. My family is starting to realize that I'm strong, independent, and determined.

So I guess Dorothy was right, there is no place like home.