Have you ever been like Squall?
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Quistis: “What time is it?”
Squall: “It’s after midnight.”
Quistis: “Oh well… I, Quistis Trepe, am no longer an instructor as of now! I’m a member of SeeD now, just like you. Who knows, maybe we’ll end up working together.”
Squall: “…Oh really?”
Quistis: “Is that all you’re going to say?”
Squall: “If that’s how it was decided, you have to abide by it.”
Quistis: “They told me that I failed as an instructor. Basically, that I lacked leadership qualities. I was a SeeD by the age of 15, got my instructor license at 17…It’s only been a year since I got it… I wonder where I went wrong… I did my best… Are you listening?”
Squall: “Are you done yet…? I don’t wanna talk about it. What am IÂ supposed to say about other people’s problems?”
Quistis: “I’m not asking you to say anything. I just want you listen.”
Squall: “Then go talk to a wall.”
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Chances are, you have. I don’t know. All I know is I have been like Squall. One of the things I used to hate about myself.
Time was whenever a friend approaches me about a problem he or she has, I take a second to turn away… just so that friend doesn’t see me rolling my eyes. “Who do I look like to you, Dr. Phil?” I would think silently, and then proceed to pretend that I’m listening. Not that I ever did a good job at pretending to listen; not even halfway across the venting I already begin to impart my so-called “words of wisdom” – which is really nothing more than an eloquently disguised attempt at brushing my friend off.
Either that or I really mean to give my friend my 2 cents about his/her predicament, and often I lance it out rather strongly. Did I mean to help? Maybe I did, or maybe I just wanna tell the person that “You are such a dumb ass. Take two of these (my so-called advice) and don’t call me in the morning because really, you should have known better.”
That’s me telling my friend that since I would never put myself in that situation, stop being so antichristing stupid and start imitating me.
Whenever I think back to this, I feel an overwhelming urge to travel back in time and wallop my past self with a flash-frozen tuna.
So who’s the dumb ass? Me, obviously. It was a good thing I met my (future) wife when I did, because if not I wouldn’t wise up enough to know that when a friend talks to me about his problems, he doesn’t need me to cue my self-righteous, smart ass advice to make him feel as small as a gnat. Even if I’m not being self-righteous and a smart ass, he doesn’t need me to talk. He just needs me to listen.
Many times, that’s the best help we could extend to a friend in distress. Just listen.
As individuals, we couldn’t always count on someone else to help us solve our problems. Most of the times, we have to deal with them by ourselves. But dealing with a problem and bearing the stress it brings are two different things. And it’s really nice to know that we have friends who would listen as we vent that stress out. Many times, just talking about a problem is already half-solving the problem.
But we need someone to listen to us. And contrary to a popular adage, walls don’t have ears.
But friends do.
Squall Leonhart is actually one of the coolest Final Fantasy characters, but I don’t blame fans who want to wallop him with a flash-frozen tuna whenever they recall that particular FFVIII scene. So at least in that aspect, let’s not be like Squall.
