pair of dimes:
I see no incongruity in spending hours on the phone helping a friend through a problem, trying to come up with solutions or resolutions, and then not allowing anyone to do the same with me. I've been through enough of the gamut of psychiatry and therapy and counseling (giving and receiving) to be able to want to take on another person's problems and not give up until all the hard questions have been placed on the table. I'm willing to suggest a plan, and if it doesn't work, pick at it some more until we can come up with some other plan.

It doesn't mean that I want the same done for me. I don't see how I am as a problem. I understand how other people see what I am as a problem, but I want to take a baseball bat to the paradigms that those people assume.

I have no problem with how I am or my attitude towards my life. I realize that I can make an effort to make my life into something productive, socially acceptable and responsible, and longevitidinous (I expect to see that word in the next edition of dictionaries), but . . . gimme a break. Those aren't my priorities.