NOW, they respond

Key wrote me back this weekend. He said my reaction was justified, and that he should have just told me the truth instead of giving me the email runaround. The truth is that while he really likes emailing and updating each other, and in the end, he just wants me to be really happy. While he likes all of that, he's just not as comfortable as I am about getting together for dinner or whatnot. He acknowledged the effort that I've made in the last year and a half to keep in touch and to stay friends, but he admitted that it just hasn't been as easy for him to do those things.

So I'm not sure how to respond to that. I want to ask him why he's uncomfortable. Is it because at one point last summer I told him I still loved him? (I don't anymore). Or maybe because his new girlfriend doesn't want him to have anything to do with me? (I hope not; she doesn't seem like the uber-jealous type) I'm not sure if I should ask him, or if I should just let things go.

The other responder is Econ Guy from last night. He called tonight and left a message:

"Hi mini, this is Econ Guy. I'm probably breaking some kind of rule for calling you so early, but uh ... It was great to meet you last night, and if you get a chance and want to, give me a call back at xxx-xxx-xxxx"

I guess he did break some kind of rule, but I probably wouldn't have noticed had he not mentioned it. Now I'm over-analyzing it. Why did he point that out? And why DID he call so early? I didn't expect something until Tuesday or Wednesday. Can I interpret this as him being uber-interested?

So anyways, I called him back when I got his message (I was in a meeting when he called originally). We talked for some 40 minutes, about all kinds of things: why he decided to work before going back to school, our undergrad experiences, why econ consulting is different from management consulting. I did note that as soon as I told him I once interned for one of the three Big Name Consulting Firms, he instantly became very interested and started asking me all kinds of questions about it.

My general experience regarding mentioning that internship has been that upon hearing about it, people I've not known for long (say just met at a cocktail party) instantaneously develop a better impression of me, or become more interested, or cock their necks and nod their heads and generally look impressed. I have to admit that I do take advantage of that and drop the internship at key, opportune times ... but I feel shady doing it. And I feel even shadier that the name drop actually works, especially in certain circles ...

In the case of Econ Guy, I wasn't name-dropping. It came up naturally in conversation because he asked me if I had done internships during undergrad because I mentioned going straight from undergrad to grad, and he wondered why I decided against working first. Nevertheless, even the natural mention in the conversation sent our conversation down an unnatural bend with his piqued interest.

Or maybe I'm just overly sensitive to the issue.