As an optimist, or at least someone who tries to be one, I often try to point out the positives in every situation. I’ve always felt as though the negatives of life needed to be blocked out. They needed to be shunned! There’s a line from one of my favorite songs by Tom Petty that goes “Some days are diamonds, some days are rocks.” And although it’s always more fun to reminisce on those “diamond days,” you get some of your most important life lessons from “the rocks.” 

Yesterday morning I woke up with my heart almost beating straight out of my chest from excitement. I had been online friends with a boy named JD from Indiana since eighth grade (I just graduated high school) and we had finally made plans to meet for the first time. We both agreed to meet halfway in Gary Indiana. It’s important to note that JD and I, at least for an online friendship, were pretty close. From facetime calls to texting each other almost every night for over four years, my overwhelming feeling of excitement to finally meet him would be understood by anyone who looked into the windows of our unique friendship. 

Seeing him for the first time felt almost like I had been meeting up with a lifelong friend. It wasn’t awkward, we both knew current things about each other’s lives, like how he would be leaving for the airforce in a few months, and I overall had a great day! We went fishing, laughed about how it took us almost four gas stations to try and find bait, and most importantly got to just enjoy each other’s company for the first time in person. Or so I thought…

There’s an indescribable feeling of pain to wake up the next morning blocked on all platforms possible; Snapchat, Instagram, even my phone number! All blocked by none other than the person I had just drove two hours to visit the previous day. Usually when someone blocks me, there’s a validated reason behind it; a bad argument or perhaps I had mustard on my shirt the entire date. Those blocks, though it stings, you at least have clarity as to why you have been blocked. In JD’s case, I had nothing. No closure as to why our platonic friendship of over four years had just suddenly come to an end over absolutely no known reason! 

As a self proclaimed optimist, I tried to crack the case by displaying the day in my head, because I highly doubt my text to him from an app that disguises your blocked number (don’t give away my secrets) is going to be responded to. I asked myself if there could’ve been anything at all that inspired him to hit all of those block buttons. Maybe it’s because I suck at fishing (I accidentally hooked his shorts), or perhaps it was a turn off that I was too scared to touch the worm (he fishes all of the time). Whatever the case may be, It’s important that I supply my own closure by being honest with myself. I’m not always an optimist, I hate fishing, and as much as I wanted to feel as though I had fun yesterday, JD blocking me made me realise that he had just as bad a time as I did. No hard feelings. Some people are just meant to be strictly online friends.

If you are reading this JD, I wish you nothing but the best!