The lesser of two evils

The title refers to nicotine vs carbs. To be specific a cigarette vs a bagel. What would Atkins do?

There's this girl I work with who I've now (as in five minutes ago) decided is the bane of my existence. I feel like I'm constantly repeating myself with the simplest of instructions. And b/c I'm such a good person, I feel bad for getting aggravated and thinking she's a complete idiot. But mainly I care b/c if I make a mistake she will be able to throw it back in my face and think of me w/ the same disdain I often think of her. I know what that's like, I don't want those thoughts directed at me.

I'm a little bored, I should preface this post w/ that comment.

Do you ever worry that you may offend someone by using the word "retarded" b/c they actually have a sibling who is retarded? But yet you use it anyway.

I just wrote to my friend via IM on why I can't go out w/ him tomorrow:
"I'm having a writing meeting with my roommate. We've made it official. We're going to be writers."
And this is when the term "retarded" comes into play.

I have a friend who has recently been abusing the smiley faces in her IM's to me. After every statement, she includes a :) Or a :( And sometimes a ;) if she's being sly or cute. But the worst, the final straw came when I received this:
:) ok :(
A smiley face sandwich, seething with passive-aggressive intonations. So I don't want to go to a movie with you...get over it. I'm not going to see the frowny face and change my mind. In fact, it only makes my decision to stay home that much more secure. But I can't absolve myself completely, I too have been known to smiley on occasion. Maybe she learned it from watching me, all those times when I didn't know how to respond so I just smiled like this :) which is what I would probably do if we were face to face, but looking a little more uncomfortable. Thank god for lol's though...they've helped me out of many an awkward situation.
R.