"What happened to us?"

I just got a call from a guy I dated earlier this year - let's call him Mr Carwash. Hadn't talked to him in a while. We just kinda fizzled out, know what I mean? Well, ok. It was a deliberate fizzle on my part. Anyway. So, he calls out of the blue and says "Hey, what happened to us?" I don't even remember exactly how I responded to this. I really had no desire to talk to him - only answered the phone because he called THREE TIMES IN A ROW. What happened to us? Where should I begin? Better yet, I won't even get started. Because I've moved on and I just don't care anymore. But, the question got me to thinking in more global terms . . .

Why do people have such a hard time talking to each other? Why are we so afraid to say what we are thinking? Are we afraid of confrontation? Afraid of the truth? Afraid of hurting someone? Or just afraid of opening ourselves up to venerability? To putting ourselves out there. Why do we let the fear of what others might think dictate what we do? What we say.

I hope everyone has a least one person in their lives that they feel they can say anything to. I have my sisters. And I have a lot of really great friends. But even with them I choose certain people with whom to discuss certain things. "Knowing my audience," as one particular friend might say. Or, at least I think he might say. Don't really know for sure because I've never talked to him about these thoughts. About these questions. Why?

No answers here tonight, readers. As has been my recent M.O., just a lot of questions . . .