Sometimes, it so happens that I am agonising over what I would tell a particular person. The circumstances are different, but the anxiety and trouble I go through - over what I would say, how I would say it and what effect it would have - are comparable. I phrase and re-phrase sentences in my mind, think of all the possible ways in which I could meet the person, run imagined conversations in my mind and work myself up.
And then, when I have said what I have wanted to say - and sometimes even before I have said anything at all - there is an abrupt response from the other side; a response that may not be particularly rude, but one that completely rips apart my efforts in one short, swift, apparently thoughtless stroke.
It can perhaps be compared to a page-long letter, written in my best hand, on the most carefully selected paper, with the right colour of ink getting a one word reply on SMS.
So, was all that anxiety and agony not required or was it not worth it?