His Name Was Pete Plaza

They thought he was their friend, but actually, all he turned out to be was a guy who needed a place to stay, a ride to the airport, a home cooked meal, someone to pick up his mail, (or run other errands) someone from whom to borrow a car, someone to help him move, and someone who would invite you for a drink and then have you pick up the tab. He had a car, but he always wanted others to use their  cars.  Since he treated them like  servants, he spoke to them like servants.  Sometimes, they shared secrets with him and thanks to him, the secrets would be the topics of conversation at the next party or social gathering. Since he thought he was better than people, he would speak condescendingly to people. He thought he was intelligent, but his actions did not reflect it. He thought he was witty, but too often, he used his wit for the sole purpose of insulting. And insult he did, but only his friends. (so called) Practicing disrespect and insult were very important to him since he tied it to his sense of masculinity and cultural identity. He apparently thought it was a sign of weakness to be courteous and/or friendly. That was the crux of his problem, considering: "If you want to have a friend, be a friend." But it was hard for him.  He was too selfish, too much of a cheapskate and too worried about his image. He tried to remain a private person, but wanted the benefits of not being a private person.  He asked many questions, but did not like to answer any. The success of some of his contemporaries caused him grief, because he turned out to be an insanely jealous person. This is when things got difficult for some of those individuals because they realized that his jealousy was to be avoided like the plague.   That was his most serious weakness. He just could not accept it when some of his friends were successful.  It was the last straw.  So they bailed.  His name was Pedro Rigoberto Plazas. He changed his name to Pete Plaza.  It was a fake name, just like his friendship.