Thought of another good one. 2001 we go to a friend’s 21st birthday dinner. I’m an apprentice greenkeeper living out of home with my girlfriend in an absolute hovel. So broke... 2 minute noodles, tuna, always had money for beer though. Anyway after the dinner ends I’m stuck at the dinner. My gf was going to pick me up but couldn’t. I’m absolutely penniless and stranded. This guy is there with his little Suzuki hatchback. He’s giving a ride home to 2 other friends. We’re going to the same place and he refuses to give me a ride because his surfboard is in the back seat and we won’t all fit. Ooooookay. I jog home 13kms (9 miles). I was furious. That just reminded me of another one. Same girlfriend told me some of the shit he’d said trying to hit on her. “What’s a girl like you doing with a loser like that etc” I’m 6’4 and no gargoyle by the way. Fuck... looking back it seems so clear. I was deluding myself, desperately trying to ignore the reality. Those friends were all I had at the time. I was terrified to face life without them. Standing up to him would’ve meant losing the rest of the group.