I have just got back from a long weekend with a friend who I've known about a year. I don't know what happened! At home she'd seemed very nice, she had a bit of a tendency to find things to complain about but not to the point it was excessive.
I was really looking forward to this holiday but the first evening, as soon as I got there, we went out for dinner she was being absolutely obnoxious. Everything I said, she seemed to try and argue with or put down. Examples would be I'd said I was looking forward to seeing the boats in the harbour, she said "I hate boats," (but then went on a boat trip by herself when she went awol the next day. I said I was looking forward to my visit to a car museum in Monaco when I'm near there for a wedding a couple of months and she said "I absolutely hate Monaco," I said I wanted to learn to do something and she said "I've never had any interest in doing that whatsoever." Everywhere I said I'd love to go she said she'd been and hated, everything I said I liked she said she disliked. She made a lot of personal criticisms, like of my choices in men and kept saying I attract arseholes and she knows loads of absolutely lovely single men (she hasn't managed to find a partner though, even though she wants one!) She was talking rubbish because I've had one EA marriage and I'd mentioned a friend was struggling because of a death in the family and I was worried about her, so she started telling me I attract crazy people.
She complained and ranted about things non stop - even a 10 minute angry outburst about hating the fact they put 4 pillows on the bed in the hotel and how she'd left a ratty note for the housekeeping staff to tell them to stop putting them there! She endlessly found fault with the hotel (it was lovely!) which is chosen - nothing was good enough.
She acted really haughty and got annoyed when they didn't have a table available with no notice at a restaurant with a €150 set menu (without asking me if the price was ok). By complete coincidence some people I knew were staying in the same hotel. When I waved and they came to say hello she was giving them dirty looks and didn't say much to them.
Luckily I don't mind being on my own because she completely vanished on me every day (that was fine with me and I avoided her for most of the trip anyway - fortunately we had separate rooms).
I suppose my question is what on earth happened?!! And how did I miss what she was like? I've spent a whole day at a time with her before and she seemed fine. Yet she was rude to me, rude about my friends and parents, complained incessantly and just couldn't seem to enjoy anything. I think the only thing I could have picked up on was she didn't seem to have any other friends (but it's not fair to judge people for that). Needless to say I won't be seeing her again but I'm feeling a bit stupid now as I question whether I just have awful judgment in people! Can anyone tell me if they've ever had an experience where they've been on holiday with someone who had unexpectedly behaved like an absolute prat?!