There are these two best friends, named Penny and Krystle. They met when they were in primary school and have always found time to catch up with each others’ lives despite the fact that they went to different secondary schools and junior colleges and are now enrolled in different universities as well. They have made more common friends along the way and nowadays hang out in a clique of 6 people.
All of their lives got much more busy in University. It was especially busy for Krystle who had taken up an executive position as a secretary for her faculty’s main club. Hence Krystle was often caught up with meetings and doing reports for the club’s projects. Moreover, Krystle was also leading a community involvement project which required them to consistently organize events to raise funds and also call for meetings often to discuss on their progression. Penny and the other friends were not as highly involved in co-curricular activities, unlike Krsytle, and hence there happened to be more common time for the rest to meet up excluding Krystle.
One day, Penny and some friends planned a surprise birthday party for Krystle in a posh restaurant. Krystle had no idea about this plan and had been told that it was just a casual dinner with all the friends. Krystle initially told them that she would be able to make it on that day. However, due to unforeseen circumstances she had to call for a club meeting on that very day to clear up some urgent work. Since she was under the impression that it was just a casual dinner, she informed her friends that she could not turn up for dinner that day and told them she would join in another day and kindly apologized.This was not the first time that Krsytle was forgoing a friends’ gathering.
Penny and her friends were very disappointed when this happened as they felt that Krystle was involved in too many activities that she had to sacrifice a large fraction of her social life to cope with her work. Penny, in particular, was very upset that Krystle was not giving as much importance to their friendship as she used to and Penny stopped talking to Krystle after this incident. On the other hand, Krsytle was very confused that her action that day caused such an impact. She was unaware of how the other parties felt and Krystle felt that her friends were not understanding enough to think from her point of view, which made Krystle upset as well.
What do you think these friends can do to patch up their friendship? How do you think we can make them understand each others’ situations and feelings?
I think these friends can arrange for a face-to-face meeting to sort out their misunderstanding. Their friendship was affected after Krystle had taken up an executive position in her faculty’s main club. Perhaps, during the face to face discussion, Krystle ought to explain to the rest on the reason why she was often absent for the friends’ gathering and seek for their understanding. Meanwhile, Penny and the rest should explain why they were angry at her. On top of that, they could ask Krystle if she would be able to free up some time in her busy schedule for them to meet up. In addition, these friends can arrange for a gathering, once or twice a month, which everyone has to attend unless something very urgent and important happens.
ReplyDeleteHi Ish,
Your post is quite long and I believe that it would be fantastic if you can shorten it, so that it can be within the word limit.
Jonathan
Hi Ish,
ReplyDeleteFor the conflict you experienced, I believe that probably Penny and her friends can try to arrange for a face to face discussion with Krystle. During this meeting, they could try to explain the reason they were angry her absence for the dinner. They could also, at the same time, explain that they are feeling (their disappointment over her giving less priority to her friends) and request that a certain amount of time to dedicate to them since the cause of the problem in the first was she was not dedicating enough time to their friendship.
On the other hand Penny and her friends should also acknowledge that she was busy due to her activities and not intentionally trying to ignore them. Hence they should also be more tolerant to Krystle lack of time.
Regards
Zhi Hong
Hi Ish,
ReplyDeleteYour post was interesting and it clearly showcased an example of how an inter personal conflict could rise up. I felt that it was wrong on Penny’s part to just stop talking to Krsytle like that. She should try to understand the situation of Krsytle too. Krsytle, on the other hand, had actually become a bit busier but she should also have tried to find some time to spend with her friends too. I felt that she should actually learn how to manage all the tasks so that it benefits everyone. They should explain to Krsytle why they felt disappointed and tell her to maybe make some free time for them too. They should explain clearly to Krsytle about their views and feelings so that Krsytle realizes the misunderstandings between them and tries to do something about it. :)
-Manjula