It was my 26th birthday a couple of weeks ago.
I am not a fan of birthdays. Ever since I turned 20 my birthdays have been, let's just say, disappointing. I usually tell the couple of people I really like what I'm planning on doing and they go along for the ride. In the past I have gone to bars, baseball games, on boat rides, dinners, etc.
This year I decided to ignore my birthday for the most part. Day of the big 2-6, I slept most of the day. Got a few gifts from my close friends and went shopping. I received no phone calls. I received 2 Facebook messages- one from my brother that simply said "happy birthday"(which is an odd situation in itself) and one from my father. I called my mother as she had surgery the day before. My birthday was like any other day. No cake. No candles. No celebration.
I decided that I wanted to have some fun, so the following Friday I planned a small fiesta. Dinner, drinks, and cake. Out of the 29 people I invited out for drinks on a Friday night... 3 showed up. Four including me! I can't say I'm surprised. I knew it would be along those lines.
What ever happened to the time when everyone went to everyone's birthday parties. If you weren't invited, you got upset. The birthday boy/girl could even threaten to dis-invite you and you were actually concerned that they would do it! People couldn't wait to buy you gifts and they couldn't wait to play with you on your special day. Now, no one wants to play with you on your special day. They are all out of town or working or too tired. However, they expect you to come to their parties.
I've decided I am not going to anyone's bullshit parties anymore. Why do I show up to parties and birthdays and fundraising functions and no one comes to mine? I'm done being social. I am declaring myself akin to the bitter ol' hermit whose yard kids run past on the way home from school. Screw you guys and your Facebook events, I will forever be "not attending".
All kidding aside though, as you get older there is no doubt that you lose friends and it only gets harder to make new ones. When events like this occur and your eyes are opened as to who is really there for you it can be sad, but it is also nice to see who is beside you when your eyes do finally open. I had a wonderful surprise that night when someone I did not expect showed up and it was wonderful to chat with him after so long.
In my own humble opinion- birthday parties should be outlawed after the age of 18.
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