Who's your worst nemesis right now? What did he/she do to cause your pain? And how are you going to pay him/her back for making you miserable?

-- Anonymous, December 29, 2000

Answers

Why yes, I'll be glad to go first. My husband needs to suffer. I've come down with a bad case of the flu, and he's been at home all week, trying to burn up vacation days. I, on the other hand, still have to go to work.

He hasn't so much caused my pain as much as done nothing to alleviate it. Not pitched in to cook dinner, or take care of the kid, or even picked up his own trash. When I have enough energy to fight, he's in deep doo-doo.

-- Anonymous, December 29, 2000

I'm ready to kill my cat. She's been pooping right in front of her litterbox pretty much once a day since we've moved to our new place, which was almost 2 months ago. We've been trying to give her a lot of attention and love and trying to ease her stress, but it's getting on my nerves. Good thing she's cute.

-- Anonymous, December 29, 2000

I don't have a nemesis. :-(

-- Anonymous, December 29, 2000

My looser ex-husband. He walked away with one bill, his car payment, and I was stuck with the rest. The immature bastard spends all of his money on beer and doesn't make payments for 4 months at a time one his one bill until his mommy bails him out. Meanwhile I'm scraping by each month trying to stay current on the bills as my credit goes to pot. I won't pay him back for making me miserable, letting him live his own pathetic life is revenge enough!

-- Anonymous, December 29, 2000

My worst nemesis is my mother's boyfriend. I prly wouldn't resent him so much if she were not still married to and living with my father. ah well. I am going to have a shirt printed up for him that says "MOTHERFUCKER" and leave the package on his porch for his wife to find.

Has anyone else ever found out that their mother/father/husband/wife/etc. was having an extramarital thing? That would be a good thread if no one's already started it.

-- Anonymous, December 30, 2000

Without a doubt, I am my own worst enemy. I am doing plenty to make myself miserable, so I guess, as far as nemesises (nemesi?) go, I'm a success. What am I planning to do to get revenge on myself? (Uhhhh, my head hurts now......)

When it blizzards again, my nemesis will be James. I love that guy, but man, he's heartless. How's the surf, today, sweetness?

-- Anonymous, December 30, 2000

I only have one serious arch nemesis--a co-worker from my last office job 2 years ago. Yes that's a long time ago so I don't care anymore. But if I saw her on the street I'm sure that old feeling of violent rage would come back quickly. It would take me a long time to type out all the ways in which she made my work environment miserable. She's just a nasty, horrible person. In the end I think that there is retribution. Everyone who has done me serious wrong has got there's in the end--all on their own without my intervention. Bad karma or whatever. My retribution for that particular woman was that she seemed to be in a miserable relationship and was obviously a very unhappy person. At least I left my unhappy work environment to go home at night to a happy homelife. I think that's revenge enough. And hell after I left that job I started working for myself and I'm happy doing what I want to be doing. So ha!

-- Anonymous, December 30, 2000

I've had quite a few people treat me horribly, both at work and in my personal life. My favorite saying, by some German philosopher, is "what does not kill you makes you stronger" and I think I'm getting tough as nails. I don't think you can ever get away from running into insane, irrational people in your life. You just have to learn how to deal with them and maintain a great support system elsewhere. I think pay backs take too much emotional energy and put you on their level. I tried the revenge thing with an abusive exhusband, but it backfired.

The best revenge is living well.

I also think learning to spot them, like really knowing red flags and not ignoring them, and getting away early on helps also. I think that what makes it worse, is that it is very hard for me not to take what they say as a mirror of myself, which is hardest for me at work, but I'm doing better. Yea, there are quit a few people I've know whom I can't find any redeeming qualities what-so-ever and seem to be nothing but a drain on the Earth's resources. I try really hard to let it go and really appreciate those who truly care about me. I'm getting better about eliminating nuts in my personal life. In fact, I'd like to share my new personal record with you. First, it took me 6 1/2 years, then 2 years, then 1 month and last week, 48 hours, yea!!!

-- Anonymous, December 30, 2000

Man it's cold here today! 48*f. The waves are great and the off-shore wind is making them absolutely georgeous. Light spray flying back off the tops and the sun is lighting up the spray. It was 73*f yesterday. More on topic though. Age is my only nemesis. Damn thing sure is sneaky. I try and ignor the bastard but it catches me once in awhile. But other than that........oh yeah ....and those stupid idiotic dumbass moronic drivers out on the roads!!! Oh yeah I was going to better kinder to the idiots. Oh wait! It's not New Years yet! I hate those buttface, creeps who drive on my roads and should be horsewhipped for having such awful driving habits. Assholes!!! There. I feel better. Have a nice New Years everyone. James

-- Anonymous, December 30, 2000

I am my own nemesis.

-- Anonymous, December 31, 2000

I have two, they're both at my workplace. I'm dreading going back there on January 2, because of them.

-- Anonymous, December 31, 2000

I don't think I have any nemesis, but I might--I haven't really paid too much attention to anyone who doesn't fit perfectly into my happy little world since I began my new life last year. If I do have any enemies, they are in it alone! But whenever I feel the need to really dig into a really evil anger fit, I usually mentally dismember girls that my SO dated before he and I evolved into a couple.

But whenever someone hurts someone I love, I'm always ready to go with revenge: key their car, toilet paper their house, egg their windows, yell at their wife, kick their dog (just kidding, I would never kick a dog). Even if we don't go through with the act, just plotting over beers helps. I'm a firm believer that revenge is not a dish best served cold, but it's a dish best shared with friends--does that make sense or am I taking a metaphor too far?

And living well is the best revenge, but busting out his windows is faster and more immediately gratifying. Why can't you do both?

-- Anonymous, December 31, 2000

My nemesis recently took away my cell phone and my e-mail access in an attempt to regain control over me.

I also have two minor ones at work, but they aren't able to do much damage at all.

-- Anonymous, January 06, 2001

I don't know if I have one true enemy. I think that probably people aren't that interested in me. But it's also because I get along okay with my spouse and don't work with anyone. I think I would have to see people on a much more regular basis to work up the energy to get irritated.

Oh! Hey, I do kind of think my son's teacher plots against me. She's always on me to make my son tell her his letters (he's four) which she insists he does not know and I insist he does. Then she says, "If he doesn't learn this stuff now he'll be behind in kindergarden." And I say, "Shouldn't kindergarden be different if average kids can get 'behind'? I mean, ferchistsakes, it's kindergarden. Then she glares at me and I glare at her and it's a glare-off.

-- Anonymous, January 08, 2001

I think the new POTUS might be.

Seriously, I am my own worst enemy. If anyone tried to hurt me worst than I've managed to hurt myself, it'd be impossible. I get in my own way constantly. I'm hard on myself and unrelenting in my self-criticism. I don't take care of myself very well, either. If I were my own child, the state would take me away from myself for my own good. I'm malnourished and live in a bad neighborhood and rarely get enough sleep or do any dreaming about what might make me feel happier or more fulfilled. But other than that...

There's also the crackhead in the neighborhood who keeps breaking into my car and into the house, but we're moving. Hopefully he won't follow us to our new crib.

-- Anonymous, January 08, 2001

Milla - I think you have something there re POTUS. We should all be afraid, VERY afraid (esp we women types).

How about "mini" nemesis? Like the EXTREMELY rude and pushy person who waits with me for the bus in the morning and practically body slams whomever might be in front of her to get on first REGARDLESS of any line; or the person at work who MARINADES themselves in a really heavy perfume (seriously, you get a headache just passing by); or the angst-y, misunderstood poet guy/coffee server who acts as if it the most miserable thing to take our orders for coffee (and I just take REGULAR); or our mail carrier who decides quite frequently just to skip our block... ... ...

-- Anonymous, January 08, 2001

Marisa, I'm so glad I'm not the only one who has a bad letter carrier. Sometimes when I don't have stamps I'll put a letter in my mailbox with 33 cents (now 34 cents - bah!) and a number of times she has taken my letter and the money, and doesn't put a stamp on the letter so it gets returned to me a few days letter. She really likes doing that to my electric bills. She also doesn't like to deliver mail when it snows.

-- Anonymous, January 09, 2001