Tuesday, August 30, 2011

Broken Promises Stink

I hate broken promises, don’t you.

Broken promises stink, but some are worse than others. There are the big kind. The I don’t love you anymore kind. That’s huge. Heartbreaking.

There are the medium kind. The remember that $5,000 you loaned me kind. For me, this felt huge, until I compared it to the I don’t love you anymore kind of broken promises. Really the $5,000 broken promise is I nothing compared to that. It’s more like the I’ll never tell anyone kind of promise. Or the your job is totally secure kind of promise. This kind of broken promise can really put a kink in your life, but at least it won't break your heart. Usually.

And then, there are the small broken promises. Things like I know I promised to pick you up at 5:30, but I ran into an old friend kind of promise. Or the I’ll clean the bathroom before I go to school kind of promise. Or the I’ll have this ready by Friday kind of promise. This kind of broken promise is annoying and irritating, but not exactly life changing.

What kind of broken promise is the I know we promised to publish your book, but…?

Well they didn’t say they don’t love me anymore. And they didn’t take any of my money. So, even though it feels huge, it must be the small kind of broken promise.

Still stinks, though.

Linda Garner


2 comments:

Caryn Caldwell said...

Oh, no. That sounds awful, and absolutely heartbreaking! It's definitely a biggie. I'm so sorry to hear it.

Virginia Llorca said...

I disagree. I think it absolutely is an "I don't love you anymore" kind of broken promise. The degrees of awfulness are only affected by how important to you the promiser was/is.

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