I have this translation for one of my profs to do, but it's going quite well, so I guess I can take a break, and bore you some more.
I made a thread some months ago as Secret Poster but I didn't get many answers and I'm lost here. And so many of you are so smart and come up with great ideas.
So here's the thing: I have this friend, who I like a lot as a person. She's really sweet and a good person and everything. The thing is... she always has these huge plans (that in reality I don't think are huge at all, they include: getting a job or an internship or getting into grad school...) and everything seems to be a huge problem for her. Like when she planned to move to another city to get her MA degree she would literally talk hours about whether she should get an apartment or a dorm room. She finished her Bachelor's degree last summer and since then, she hasn't really done anything. She signed up for the Master's degree at our uni, but never intended to finish it and only went to very few lectures (and complained about them constantly. Like why do you even go?!). Apart from that she hasn't been doing anything (I would have fallen into deep depression or died of boredom!) I remember last summer she said she would move for the MA degree, find a job, etc. None of that happened. She's still living with her parents and since we've both started uni 5 years ago, she has worked for maybe two or three weeks total.
I think I could live with that, although I do think it's sort of weird and not exactly healthy, and I never really,know how to comment on what she says.
BUT:
The last time we talked on the phone (last week), she said I was so lucky to have my social scholarship/grant-thing (fyi: in Germany if your parents can't afford to support your education the government gives you a scholarship-credit mix. You have to pay back 50% of what they give you interest-free). And it just made me so angry, I didn't even know what to say. Yes, do I get government help, because while both of your parents work and can obviously support you, because you haven't even worked for a whole month since you started uni, my mum can't. The money I get is not enough to survive where we live, so I've had to work since my very first semester AND I will be 10k in debt when I finish uni. I also couldn't change my Master's programme once I started (something she's doing right now), because I wouldn't have been eligable anymore and wouldn't have been able to support myself. I will also never be able to do an unpaid internship for longer than a month (which is something she constantly tells me she wants to do... but then never does).
I just told her that I would happily switch and have parents that could support me, so I wouldn't be 10k in debt when I start "adult life".
The mix of everything is a problem and everyone else is so lucky is just too much for me to take. I feel like a bad friend for thinking so badly of her and thinking that she has silly problems, because apart from the not-doing-anything-business I like her. But I just don't know what to say or do anymore. What do I even say when she tells me for the 97424568635th time that she's maybe sort of going to look for a job? How do I tell her nicely that I think she's extremely lucky for not having to work, being able to transfer to another uni, all without being in debt and should stop complaining about petty things that other people do without big problems all the time?
Ok, I needed to tell someone! Now you all now that I'm a shitty friend. And I should get back to translating that lecture on performance arts and performativity and the performative turn (I swear people make scientific disciplines of every shit they can make up!) ...
*edit: Oh, no! My stupid neighbours just came home. I could hear them swear in Russian in the hallway and the minute they got to their apartment they turned on the music full blast. I've been meaning to get earplus forever. Maybe I should go to the drugstore to get them right now.
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My friend - Help you wise ladies (and man!)
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But seriously, I think all you can do is remain polite, and point out to her that she is being a spolit brat when she does it. Or just find a mantra like "Yep, that's what being an adult is about" and say it until she gets it. Like:
"I'm thinking of getting a job"
"Yep, that's what being an adult is about"
"I'm thinking of moving for uni"
"Yep, that's what being an adult is about"
I am a smart-arse though, probably best not to take my advice.
The closer a friend you are, the more honest that you can be with her. It just seems like something that you need to deal with, it comes as part of your friends personality.