daily prompt · Writing

Breadcrumbs

Amy

Which food, when you eat it, instantly transports you to adolescence? (Prompt altered for context.)

Breadcrumbing signs

A typical breadcrumber might:

  • fail to reply to texts or chats for several days or weeks, then send a few long messages without explaining why they temporarily disappeared
  • mention shared interests or experiences to reinforce a sense of connection 
  • keep you looking to the future with vague statements like, “Let’s pencil that in”
  • imply that they’d love to see you but ignore your requests to make an actual plan
  • keep messages superficial and generic instead of offering concrete details or showing interest in your daily life
  • view or like your social media posts without responding, while still ignoring actual messages you’ve sent
  • communicate primarily with photos, memes, or emoji
  • show interest in hooking up but not spending non-physical time together

Source: https://www.healthline.com/health/relationships/breadcrumbing#takeaway

Bread-crumbing will stop only if you refuse to exist only on small pieces of stale bread. They’re not going to stop dropping breadcrumbs like they’re sloppily making Thanksgiving stuffing, so the onus is on the person who wants the actual meal, not the topping. And if you have a gluten allergy, run for the hills. Everyone else, just run away from the crumbs. Find the whole loaf of bread somewhere else. 

Published by Amy

I love words. And animals. Photography and fedoras. Welcome. And stay awhile.

26 thoughts on “Breadcrumbs”

  1. I don’t get many texts, but I try to look at them daily. Most days I succeed. There’s usually nothing there, except politicians asking Eleanor, the previous owner of my number, for donations. I’ve had my number for 7 years. I don’t do the other things because I am not connected with anyone except family and a couple of friends who live 1000+ miles away.

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    1. I can’t get past Eleanor. She must’ve been a very giving person for you to continue to receive calls from politicians wanting donations. Not sure who she was giving to, but man, she was giving. Don’t worry, you’re not breadcrumbing. You have to wonder if you’re doing it, you’re definitely not doing it.

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      1. Eleanor, if she’s still alive, is a 90-something conservative who lives/lived about 30 miles from here. I got a call from her oncologist about a year ago confirming she’d be at her appointment. Her nieces and nephews texted me a lot. The Cadillac dealership she goes to has called me about service. Telemarketers still call. I changed my number because my first local number had been owned by an escort.

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      2. You know more about Eleanor than most people know about some of their family members! And the first phone number being owned by an escort must have been interesting. I think you need to write up short story about this. I had to switch cell phone providers a while back due to repeatedly having to change my phone number. The first time I kept getting calls from angry women looking for their man, the second time I kept getting people wanting to buy drugs, and I don’t even rememberthe third time, but I switched providers at that point.

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    1. Thanks for the lovely review, Susan. For some reason, I thought of breadcrumbing when I read the prompt, so decided to alter it a little bit. Maybe altering them from time to time will make for more interesting replies.

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    1. Yes! It’s one of the worst types of behavior and usually associated with narcissism. But any manipulative person can breadcrumb quite well.

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    1. Thanks, Kymber! I’ve been reading comments from others who have not heard that term before, so I’m glad I can be of service. 😊💗

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  7. Sighs, what are the greatest loves of my life breadcrumb me broke my heart into about 1000 pieces.
    Yeah it hurts, a lot.

    They really lead you on then drop you like a hot potato. When I realized I was just an option, I ended it.

    Emotionally unavailable people mostly play this game…

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    1. Yes, they do. And there are a lot of emotionally unavailable people out there. It’s a rough lesson to learn, and sometimes you have to learn it more than once, unfortunately. They’re pretty good at disguising what they’re doing.

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      1. It happened to me right after my last marriage I found a woman I’ve loved more than anybody in my whole life, and she breadcrumb me and drop me like a party favor… was devastating

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  8. >>imply that they’d love to see you but ignore your requests to make an actual plan<<
    Going through this one with a friend. It may actually help me be more light about her crumminess, to think of this post. Ty!

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