My boyfriend claims he's listening to me even though I claim he isn't. More often than we like to be, we are apart. But when I get to the point when I feel completely isolated from him, I tell him so.
Well, according to him--he expects it, and accepts it, too. He says he knows and expects that it is time for me to complain. And then realizing that he expects me to complain, I become annoyed. I am annoyed because by saying he expects and accepts it implies that I am simply venting. I am not. But I am becoming frustrated.
That's when the sound of my voice changes, I enunciate every single word, and I omit contractions altogether. Satisfied, having made myself perfectly clear, I continue to voice my concerns. Again, this is not venting. Instead, I am not simply expressing my concerns just for the sake of being listened to. No, I am instead expressing my discontent in a manner suitable for discussion with the intent of gaining a resolution. In other words, I want results--I want what I am complaining about to end.
I am not venting because I know that venting is complaining about something that will not and cannot change. Venting, you see, is a way to stir up the necessary ingredients to gain sympathy.
Venting is an outlet--a way to let others, anyone who will listen, usually a girlfriend--someone who will hear your complaints because they have them too.
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