Disorder

So I know this guy named Albert. In my phone he's listed as Albert Artist because I can't seem to remember his last name very well (it starts with a "c" and sounds Spanish). Anyways, I've known him sine the beach party -so about a month. He's going to have some friends of mine and I put our artwork in a show he's running.

Things I've Discovered About Albert:

• He usually calls 1-2 times every 2-3 days during the week to mention random ideas he gets to help us sell our artwork. These are random thoughts that just occur to him that he feels like mentioning. Some ideas are good, others not so much.

• Albert looks like Johnny Depp.

• Albert is in his 40's?

• Albert lives alone in an apartment.

• Albert is a struggling freelance artist/ designer who wants to get into digital 3D artwork.

• Albert's mom was recently in the hospital and that same day he called me to talk to me and I couldn't talk long because I was late to go somewhere. I think all I said was, "I hope she feels better". I felt bad that I couldn't talk or say more.

• Albert is lonely. He doesn't have very many close friends. I think he's a Leo, but he seems more like a Cancer. He seems very social and approachable in person, but he also spends a lot of time alone in his home. I think he's lonely.

• Albert randomly called me up on Saturday and asked if I could help his friend Sujin. He said, "Sujin is a nice girl, but she's having issues with her mom right now and she needs a place to stay. Can she stay at your apartment for a couple of days?"

I wondered how immediate and how serious Sujin's situation was. Was I the first person Albert called to turn to for this?
I didn't know what to say. I told Albert I'd need to here more about her. He told Sujin to call me so she and I could talk. Albert said,"Don't worry she's a good girl, she just needs help".

I talked to Sujin. She came over to my apartment so we could meet in person. Her attitude kind of reminded me of my sister Emily, who was also there at the time.

Sujin, who is 23 and unemployed, said, "My mom's being overbearing. She won't let me stay out past 10:30. She checks my emails. I get in trouble for saying certain things she doesn't approve of on Facebook. I'm a very independent person so this living situation is not working out. I just need a month apart from her so we can ease the tension.

Sujinn said she would pay $300 towards rent and $50 towards getting gas for my car if I let her stay on my couch for a month. She said I could take a week to think it over.

I asked Sujin how she would get the money without a job and she said she gets $700 a month for being on disability. I asked her what her disability was -she looked pretty healthy. She looked nervous and hesitated, "I don't usually like to tell people, but I'm bipolar." Her expression changed and he eagerly said, "But I'm on medication and everything's fine and I haven't had serious issues in like 5 years." I felt bad that she was so insecure about it and I said, "Nah that's fine. It'd be worse if you weren't taking any medication for it because you were in denial about it. I have Social Anxiety Disorder and my sister has ADD, so it's not a big deal."

After Sujin left, several important questions that I forgot to ask popped into my head. On Sunday she called to check in with me and I asked her: 1 What are you going to do during the day? She said 6:30-9am Exercise at YMCA. 10-12 volunteer at a charity called NAMI. 3-5pm Babysit. Then come home. 2. What's your sleep/wake schedule like? She said she gets up early and usually goes to bed around 10pm. She said, "I don't party or anything like that."

That was it. I mostly wanted to know she wasn't going to be hanging out at the apartment all day with my unguarded things. I just didn't feel comfortable about it.

• Albert called Monday night. He was pretty frantic and panicky sounding. He said, "Does your door have a lock?" I said, "Yah, why?" He said, "I just found out some nad things about Sujin. Does you bedroom door have a lock on it?"

I checked the bedroom door. It had a lock. And the whole time I was thinking, Oh God. She must have lost it. Maybe she's off her meds and going psycho. Is she coming for meor something?

• Albert said, "I called Sujin's mom and she said Sujin was on drugs again and she just stole moey from her mom's purse."

Nice, I thought. Well now what?

• Albert, "I'm sorry. I met her a year ago and have only spoken to her a couple times. She use to do drugs, but I thought she stopped. Listen you're a good friend and I didn't know Sujin was like that. I don't want her stealing from you or anything, so don't let her stay. Just say you changed your mind. Or tell her you talked to me and I told you not to let her stay. I remember once I called to talk to her, and she answered like, 'what?' -you know with attitude- and she asked 'Is this important?' and I said I just wanted to talk and and she said she was busy, but she was just at a party with her friends. She never wanted to just talk to me -only if it was an emergency or something. Not a good friend. Don't let her stay at your house."

Yah, Albert talks a lot. I think he gets nervous and he just rambles. It's ok though. I like to listen to people.

After my call with Albert, I just looked at all the stuff I had in my apartment. It was funny because the day before Albert's Monday call and after I talked to Sujin, The thought did occur to me that she might steal something. And I wasn't worried about her stealing from my jewelry box -an obvious place to strike. Nor my T.V. -thought I don't know how she would have made off with it on her own down the narrow flight of stairs leading up to my apartment. I decided the only valuable thing she could steal from me was my5 year old Toshiba laptop. *I love you* My only computer. Everything else, except for sentimental things, I didn't really care about.

The way I feel now about the whole situation now is this:

I'm glad she didn't "move in" right away. I didn't really sense anything wrong about her personality. She came off nice, but I could tell she was struggling internally. It's too bad. What she did, stealing from her mom and doing drugs, just tarnished her. People who didn't even know her were willing to put their trust in her and go out of their way to help her and she blew it.

I acknowledge the fact that I'm gullible and naive, but is it really such a bad thing to be open and let people in at the risk of the occasional person mooching off your kindness? It just kind of felt like life had given me a test. To let someone in unquestioningly and openly at your own risk, or keep the door shut on someone to maintain your own security. I let in, but the Universe was still looking out for me and "the mistake of being too open" never happened. I was taken care of.