Contrary to popular opinion, I do believe you can be friends with an ex after sufficient time has passed.
I recruited an ex-boyfriend to accompany me in picking up an indoor spin bike I had purchased off of Facebook marketplace.
I didn't want to drive to an unknown location alone, and truthfully knew I would not be able to get the bike up the stairs into my apartment on my own.
The trip was a success, and he continues to be wonderful company. We caught up on the latest and greatest in our lives (which was a whole lot of nothing given quarantine) and shared a couple of beers over a Postmated lunch.
Well-trained by his mother, after we finished eating he took the dishes to the sink and began to wash them. I apologized for the lack of dish soap. He picked up the bottle, realizing it had about a third of its contents left.
"Are you serious? This will definitely last you about another week," he said while laughing.
I thought about his statement for a moment and it dawned on me how different our perspectives really were. I was raised as an only child. Coming from a family with six children, he was raised with frugality. He also always had a knack for pointing out my lack of "glass half-full" mentality. For a family that totaled eight people in one household, I then pondered on how quickly dish soap must have ran out in their house (prior to installing a dishwasher). Whereas my one-third of a bottle could surely last about another week if not more, one-third of a bottle may only survive the latter half of a day in his house.
And once again, I am humbly reminded not to pass judgment on the viewpoints of another. They may have their reasons, after all.
Perspective is everything.
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