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“Goodbye, Howard.”
Howard: Part II, The Final Chapter
September 25, 2025
I had a follow up, and final, conversation with Howard last night.
We are as far from understanding one another as black is from white. It’s amazing to me that just two days ago, I thought we had a legit chance at something meaningful.
I had accused him of trying to blame his reaction on me, holding me accountable for his shock over the fact I have genital herpes, and putting it back on me as if I was somehow to blame when all I had done was be honest and forthright. That line of reasoning continued.
“You remind me of my ex, Harriet. She would get upset with me about everything I said! You don’t understand, I come from the East Coast. We have a way of saying things. It’s not intended to hurt you, it’s just who I am! I just am that way, and it’s not right or wrong, it just is. And two people have to just accept one another’s style of communication and not try to change it. She’d get upset with what I said and I felt like I was walking on eggshells! I couldn’t win with her!”
Oh, you want to frame it like that, do you? With a winner and a loser. Interesting. Sounds like another zero sum game, MAN TAKES ALL. If only he could see that what he frames as “two people have to accept one another’s style of…
