I posted this last year. As my birfday is approaching again (funny how it tends to happen every year) I don't *think* anyone is planning any surprises for me, but I figured I'd post this again. Just in case. No surprises. No face punching. Just a happy birfday.
As my birthday inevitably approaches (sigh), I feel the need to post this...just in case.
When I was a little girl, I never had birthday parties with friends. My mom always just made a cake for the family and we ate ice cream and I received presents. I didn't live in this world that most kids seem to live in now--if you don't have a HUGE party for your kids EVERY year, you're apparently a bad parent. I am not picking on my parents. I enjoyed my childhood birthdays. Still, there was a part of me that secretly longed for someone, anyone, to throw me a surprise party.
The surprise parties I saw on the stupid 80's sitcoms all seemed so much fun. I wanted for people to hide, then jump out and shout "SURPRISE!" as soon as I showed up.
And then I grew up.
In my life, I have had two surprise birthday parties. Both were while I was at college. Both were...less than ideal.
Now the first one was actually fun, but it didn't turn out as planned. It wasn't my plans that were ruined, because I wasn't the one who planned anything. But about a week or so before my birthday, I started having some suspicions that someone was planning a party for me. I don't know why I started thinking this. The ions just seemed to be off; the stars were misaligned. I knew. Somehow I knew.
So I told the roommate I had at the time, "Roommate, I think someone is planning me a surprise party. I don't know who, but I know someone is planning it." That roommate and I got along really well, but we weren't extremely close friends. I figured she would be able to keep a secret that I knew someone else's secret.
My birthday arrived and my suspicions became even more confirmed. My friends (who all knew it was my birthday) completely ignored the fact that it was my birthday. That's something people only do when they are trying to hide the fact that they're going to suprise you later. I mean, that's classic 80's sitcom. Classic.
So again, I said to my roommate, "Roommate, I am pretty sure that someone is throwing me a surprise party."
And then this girl who I sorta kinda knew, but not really, called me up and said, "Hey, do you want to come down to the student center later and hang out?"
I said, "Why? We have never really hung out like that before?"
She said, "Oh, I just thought it would be fun to spend some time with you. Can you meet me at the student center at...say 6:30 sharp?"
Yeah. I knew exactly what was going on. She was the bait. She was the lure to get me down to the student center where my surprise party was to be held.
So I turned to my roommate. "Roommate, I'm absolutely CERTAIN that someone is throwing me a surprise party!"
My roommate sighed heavily. "Yes, Ruth. Someone is throwing you a surprise party. It's me. Are you happy, now?"
D'oh.
I went to the student center at 6:30. I acted surprised. I had a great time with my friends, and all in all, it was a fantastic party and a fantastic birthday. But to this day, I still feel guilty for figuring out my roommate's secret and THEN being stupid enough to tell her about it.
The second surprise party I had was on my 25th birthday. At this point, I had already learned from previous mistakes. I told all my friends multiple times that I did NOT under any circumstances want a suprise party...or a party of any kind. What I wanted on my birthday was to spend some time with my boyfriend.
Only my boyfriend spent most of the day ignoring me. I was already depressed about turning 25. I was not feeling well that day. Then, my boyfriend ignored me all day. He didn't meet me for lunch like I asked him to. He didn't meet me for dinner. So I had a serious case of the grumps by about 7:00 that night.
My friends came by to cheer me up. "Ruth, why don't you get out of your room. It's your birthday! Come down to the student center with us and have some fun!"
"No," I said firmly. "It's my birthday, my boyfriend has ignored me all day, and I can be miserable if I want to." (You would cry too, if it happened to you...)
"Really, we don't want you to be stuck in your room," they implored. "Come down to the student center with us. We can play pool or watch movies or whatever you want. Just don't sit all alone in your room."
"No," I said again. "I want to be left alone."
Finally, they realized I wasn't going to come with them. So one of my friends said, "Okay, Ruth, we wanted this to be a surprise, but we're having a party for you, so you kind of have to come to the student center with us. Now. We're late."
D'oh.
And let me tell you, that was probably the most awkward party I've ever been to. I asked them NOT to do it, and they did it. And it was dreadful. My boyfriend was there. He was acting strange. My mood continued to be off. Everyone eventually left because of the tension in the air.
And later on that night, I got dumped.
On my birthday.
Fun times.
...
Anyways...
So I'm not expecting or suspecting any of my friends to throw me a party, surprise or otherwise, but just in case you're one of my friends and the idea popped into your head, I advise you to pop the idea right back out.
I'm socially awkward. I'm introspective. I'm an introvert. In other words, I don't always like people! :-D
I like surprises, but NOT surprise social interactions. If I know I'm going to have to be social, I have better time to prepare myself for it. If a social encounter just jumps out at me and says, "SURPRISE!" then there's a good chance I'm not going to be the best company. In fact, I might get really excited and punch you in the face.
So if you want to throw me a party, go for it...just let me know about it in advance. You've been warned.
Showing posts with label birthday. Show all posts
Showing posts with label birthday. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Happy Belated Birthday, Adventures in Social Awkwardness
I missed it. I missed it because I got too busy doing stuff like reading popular dystopian YA literature, working with short people, singing notes that are almost so high that only dogs can hear them, running with scissors, and watching PBS shows about whales. You know...the usual.
Adventures in Social Awkwardness turned a year old on Sunday. And I missed it.
Lately, I've actually noticed that I'm not updating this particular blog as much as I have in the past. I wonder why that is. Is it because I, Socially Awkward Girl, has had a lack of socially awkward encounters? Perish the thought! PERISH IT! Rather, I think it's because I've been too busy living through socially awkward encounters to actually take the time to write about them. And when I do have a socially awkward encounter, I tend to forgedduhboudit before I have the chance to blog.
I've also not been writing blogs for my Dragon-Muses lately, but that's mainly because I'm not spending time with them enough to know what they want to blog about. They've actually called a "Family Meeting" to deal with my lack of writing and communication with them, which kind of makes me scared. I've been avoiding it--avoiding them--because it's never a good thing when Dragons are upset with you.
So just in case you were wondering if some of my blogs are dying, the answer is no. I mean, right now I'm typing this while listening to some maintainence guys bang on the wall outside my apartment. I'm not sure why they're doing this, but oddly enough, it's giving me some inspiration.
So stay tuned.
Adventures in Social Awkwardness turned a year old on Sunday. And I missed it.
Lately, I've actually noticed that I'm not updating this particular blog as much as I have in the past. I wonder why that is. Is it because I, Socially Awkward Girl, has had a lack of socially awkward encounters? Perish the thought! PERISH IT! Rather, I think it's because I've been too busy living through socially awkward encounters to actually take the time to write about them. And when I do have a socially awkward encounter, I tend to forgedduhboudit before I have the chance to blog.
I've also not been writing blogs for my Dragon-Muses lately, but that's mainly because I'm not spending time with them enough to know what they want to blog about. They've actually called a "Family Meeting" to deal with my lack of writing and communication with them, which kind of makes me scared. I've been avoiding it--avoiding them--because it's never a good thing when Dragons are upset with you.
So just in case you were wondering if some of my blogs are dying, the answer is no. I mean, right now I'm typing this while listening to some maintainence guys bang on the wall outside my apartment. I'm not sure why they're doing this, but oddly enough, it's giving me some inspiration.
So stay tuned.
Monday, March 21, 2011
SAA Ep. # 21: Birthday Adventures
I just finished up another birthday. Number 31. Now I'm thirty-something; not just plain ol' 30 anymore. Yeah...birthdays (and Birthday Eves) are awesome, but for me, they are more opportunities for socially awkward adventures.
My first adventure happened on Birthday Eve (AKA St. Patrick's Day). My friend Desiree has an actual BIRTHDAY on my Birthday Eve, and I decided to get her some donuts--but not just any donuts. Krispy Kremes. You remember...the ONE DONUT TO RULE THEM ALL, the Donut of Power!
So, I woke up extra early that morning and traveled far into Mordor--I mean, the Krispy Kreme shop--hoping to snag a donuty breakfast of my own before going to work, you know, since I was there anyway.
The strangest thing happened when I walked into the store. There was this lady there who was trying to explain to the...donut sellers? Donut chefs? Donut artists? Donut-istas? Hmm...let's keep going with the LOTR's theme and call them Donut Orcs...or Dorcs. That works. People who make and sell donuts are officially called Dorcs.
Okay.
So, the strangest thing happened when I walked into Krispy Kreme. There was this lady who was trying to explain to the Dorcs that she wanted a dozen assorted donuts, but she wanted them all packaged differently. This poor lady, I felt so sorry for her (and even more so for the Dorc that was helping her), because she kept rambling and stuttering. Finally, she managed to tell the Dorcs that she wanted four donuts in one box, six in another box, one in a bag, and one to eat in the store. It took her about five minutes to explain all this because she kept stuttering and generally not making sense.
Then she finally got what she wanted the way she wanted it packaged, and she went to pay for her order. Well, the Dorcs didn't communicate very well with each other, and the lady wasn't paying attention, so she ended up paying for more donuts than she was supposed to, and then the manager had to come void the order. Then the poor lady couldn't carry all the stuff she had ordered and more Dorcs had to come help her.
Then the frazzled lady went to eat the donut she'd ordered in the store, and while she was there, she took out a notebook to write something down. What was she writing? Nobody knows, because the pen she was using didn't have any ink in it.
Did I mention that this poor frazzled lady was me?
It was.
I was writing down a prayer. I do that. I have ADOSD (Attention Deficit Oooh Shiny! Disorder). If I don't write down or type out my prayers, I can't stay focused. So that's what I was doing with the notebook...praying in Krispy Kreme. Only I got about two sentences into my prayer before my pen completely ran out of ink. I could have gone out to my car to get a pen, but that would have required me juggling all my boxes out to the car with me. I could have asked one of the Dorcs for a pen, but they had already done enough for poor confusing me. So I just sat there and wrote without any ink. And I know they noticed, because one of the Dorcs kept coming up behind me with the pretense of sweeping the floor, trying to figure out what in the world I was doing.
Eventually, I ate my donut and left...and I finished my prayer in the car...after I drove to a different parking lot...after I got a new pen...
So the rest of Birthday Eve was pretty fun. I went walking/running while listening to some Rich Mullins, and it was amazing. I felt so good both physically and Spiritually, but when I got done with the exercise, I had to rush. I was going to a production of Phantom of the Opera that was being performed by a local private school. So I showered and got dressed, and then realized I hadn't eaten much of anything since that donut. So I was lightheaded and stuff. I scarfed down some spaghetti squash and put on some mascara and rushed out the door.
My roommate was playing violin in the orchestra for the play (she teaches violin for the school), so she was driving. We were over halfway there when I realized I'd left my ticket at the apartment. Fortunately, the ticket people were very nice and very forgiving of poor frazzled me, and they got me another ticket. I was able to enjoy the show, but not before one more little bit of social awkwardness.
The student who took my ticket at the door was wearing some really cute black shoes. They were particularly cute, because I was wearing the same shoes. So I made a point of telling her, "Oh, I love your shoes!" She smiled and thanked me. I said, "We obviously have the same taste," and I showed her my shoes. She gave me a blank stare and thanked me again. I said, "I said that because we are wearing the same shoes." She gave me an even blanker stare...and I realized that she wasn't going to play the game. Aww. So I went and took my seat. The end.
The birthday went extremely well. There was very little social awkwardness on the actual birthday. I did go out to dinner with the family I nanny for, and I almost passed that up because I was SO tired. Birthdays are exhausting. But they talked me into it and I had a pleasant and almost completely unawkward experience. The waiter thought I was the kids' mom, but that sort of thing happens to me ALL the time. I should write a blog about that...
But then I went out to eat yesterday for some post-birthday merriment with my friends. We went to an upscale pizza place. First off, they couldn't seat us at a table (at first) and we were seated in two back-to-back booths, which meant we had to shout at each other if we wanted to converse.
Then, our waiter was interesting. He was a close-talker. And a skulker. You know the type. He stands way too close to you so that you can smell/feel his breath (smells/feels like fish)...and he just generally creeps you out. Then he looms over you while you're pondering your order. I think they do it on purpose. They stand there creeping you out until you just order the first thing you see--the featured and most expensive item on the side of the menu. We actually nicknamed him "Gollum" because of the skulking.
We got everything ordered and were able to move the party to an actual table, which was nice. But I was wearing a new shirt, and it gaped a lot (which I didn't realize before I put it on), so I ended up having to tug on my shirt constantly to keep from flashing everyone. Gollum may or may not have noticed this, but he did tell me that since it was my birthday celebration, I got a free piece of cake. So my friend turned to me and said, "Pull up your shirt, Ruth. The cake is ALREADY free!"
Yeah.
Then they brought out the cake, and I thought, "Phew! They're not one of these restaurants that does the big birthday production. They just let me eat my cake in peace!" But then another waiter (who was not Gollum, but a nice man named Kevin who has a bad toothache that keeps him up at night--please keep him in your prayers--I'm totally serious here) realized it was for my birthday, and he took the cake away again.
And I sighed and said, "Oh, apparently this cake comes with a side of public humiliation."
And it did. In the form of a candle. And a birthday song.
All in all, I had a MARVELOUS birthday, but I'm glad I have almost a whole year before I get to have another one. Birthdays are great, but they're exhausting.
I now return to my regularly scheduled life, which is already in progress.
My first adventure happened on Birthday Eve (AKA St. Patrick's Day). My friend Desiree has an actual BIRTHDAY on my Birthday Eve, and I decided to get her some donuts--but not just any donuts. Krispy Kremes. You remember...the ONE DONUT TO RULE THEM ALL, the Donut of Power!
So, I woke up extra early that morning and traveled far into Mordor--I mean, the Krispy Kreme shop--hoping to snag a donuty breakfast of my own before going to work, you know, since I was there anyway.
The strangest thing happened when I walked into the store. There was this lady there who was trying to explain to the...donut sellers? Donut chefs? Donut artists? Donut-istas? Hmm...let's keep going with the LOTR's theme and call them Donut Orcs...or Dorcs. That works. People who make and sell donuts are officially called Dorcs.
Okay.
So, the strangest thing happened when I walked into Krispy Kreme. There was this lady who was trying to explain to the Dorcs that she wanted a dozen assorted donuts, but she wanted them all packaged differently. This poor lady, I felt so sorry for her (and even more so for the Dorc that was helping her), because she kept rambling and stuttering. Finally, she managed to tell the Dorcs that she wanted four donuts in one box, six in another box, one in a bag, and one to eat in the store. It took her about five minutes to explain all this because she kept stuttering and generally not making sense.
Then she finally got what she wanted the way she wanted it packaged, and she went to pay for her order. Well, the Dorcs didn't communicate very well with each other, and the lady wasn't paying attention, so she ended up paying for more donuts than she was supposed to, and then the manager had to come void the order. Then the poor lady couldn't carry all the stuff she had ordered and more Dorcs had to come help her.
Then the frazzled lady went to eat the donut she'd ordered in the store, and while she was there, she took out a notebook to write something down. What was she writing? Nobody knows, because the pen she was using didn't have any ink in it.
Did I mention that this poor frazzled lady was me?
It was.
I was writing down a prayer. I do that. I have ADOSD (Attention Deficit Oooh Shiny! Disorder). If I don't write down or type out my prayers, I can't stay focused. So that's what I was doing with the notebook...praying in Krispy Kreme. Only I got about two sentences into my prayer before my pen completely ran out of ink. I could have gone out to my car to get a pen, but that would have required me juggling all my boxes out to the car with me. I could have asked one of the Dorcs for a pen, but they had already done enough for poor confusing me. So I just sat there and wrote without any ink. And I know they noticed, because one of the Dorcs kept coming up behind me with the pretense of sweeping the floor, trying to figure out what in the world I was doing.
Eventually, I ate my donut and left...and I finished my prayer in the car...after I drove to a different parking lot...after I got a new pen...
So the rest of Birthday Eve was pretty fun. I went walking/running while listening to some Rich Mullins, and it was amazing. I felt so good both physically and Spiritually, but when I got done with the exercise, I had to rush. I was going to a production of Phantom of the Opera that was being performed by a local private school. So I showered and got dressed, and then realized I hadn't eaten much of anything since that donut. So I was lightheaded and stuff. I scarfed down some spaghetti squash and put on some mascara and rushed out the door.
My roommate was playing violin in the orchestra for the play (she teaches violin for the school), so she was driving. We were over halfway there when I realized I'd left my ticket at the apartment. Fortunately, the ticket people were very nice and very forgiving of poor frazzled me, and they got me another ticket. I was able to enjoy the show, but not before one more little bit of social awkwardness.
The student who took my ticket at the door was wearing some really cute black shoes. They were particularly cute, because I was wearing the same shoes. So I made a point of telling her, "Oh, I love your shoes!" She smiled and thanked me. I said, "We obviously have the same taste," and I showed her my shoes. She gave me a blank stare and thanked me again. I said, "I said that because we are wearing the same shoes." She gave me an even blanker stare...and I realized that she wasn't going to play the game. Aww. So I went and took my seat. The end.
The birthday went extremely well. There was very little social awkwardness on the actual birthday. I did go out to dinner with the family I nanny for, and I almost passed that up because I was SO tired. Birthdays are exhausting. But they talked me into it and I had a pleasant and almost completely unawkward experience. The waiter thought I was the kids' mom, but that sort of thing happens to me ALL the time. I should write a blog about that...
But then I went out to eat yesterday for some post-birthday merriment with my friends. We went to an upscale pizza place. First off, they couldn't seat us at a table (at first) and we were seated in two back-to-back booths, which meant we had to shout at each other if we wanted to converse.
Then, our waiter was interesting. He was a close-talker. And a skulker. You know the type. He stands way too close to you so that you can smell/feel his breath (smells/feels like fish)...and he just generally creeps you out. Then he looms over you while you're pondering your order. I think they do it on purpose. They stand there creeping you out until you just order the first thing you see--the featured and most expensive item on the side of the menu. We actually nicknamed him "Gollum" because of the skulking.
We got everything ordered and were able to move the party to an actual table, which was nice. But I was wearing a new shirt, and it gaped a lot (which I didn't realize before I put it on), so I ended up having to tug on my shirt constantly to keep from flashing everyone. Gollum may or may not have noticed this, but he did tell me that since it was my birthday celebration, I got a free piece of cake. So my friend turned to me and said, "Pull up your shirt, Ruth. The cake is ALREADY free!"
Yeah.
Then they brought out the cake, and I thought, "Phew! They're not one of these restaurants that does the big birthday production. They just let me eat my cake in peace!" But then another waiter (who was not Gollum, but a nice man named Kevin who has a bad toothache that keeps him up at night--please keep him in your prayers--I'm totally serious here) realized it was for my birthday, and he took the cake away again.
And I sighed and said, "Oh, apparently this cake comes with a side of public humiliation."
And it did. In the form of a candle. And a birthday song.
All in all, I had a MARVELOUS birthday, but I'm glad I have almost a whole year before I get to have another one. Birthdays are great, but they're exhausting.
I now return to my regularly scheduled life, which is already in progress.
Friday, March 18, 2011
Just Sayin' Ep. #4: Turning Thirty-Something
I'm not sure how someone as socially awkward as I am got SO many AMAZING friends, but this has been an awesome birthday. I'm so thankful for all the friends, family, kids, etc. in my life who have made this day EVEN better. I've had a fantastic day!
Being thirty-something isn't so bad after all.
Just sayin'.
Being thirty-something isn't so bad after all.
Just sayin'.
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Embarrablast From the Past Episode # 7: The Surprise Birthday Party
As my 31st birthday inevitably approaches (sigh), I feel the need to post this...just in case.
When I was a little girl, I never had birthday parties with friends. My mom always just made a cake for the family and we ate ice cream and I received presents. I didn't live in this world that most kids seem to live in now--if you don't have a HUGE party for your kids EVERY year, you're apparently a bad parent. I am not picking on my parents. I enjoyed my childhood birthdays. Still, there was a part of me that secretly longed for someone, anyone, to throw me a surprise party.
The surprise parties I saw on the stupid 80's sitcoms all seemed so much fun. I wanted for people to hide, then jump out and shout "SURPRISE!" as soon as I showed up.
And then I grew up.
In my life, I have had two surprise birthday parties. Both were while I was at college. Both were...less than ideal.
Now the first one was actually fun, but it didn't turn out as planned. It wasn't my plans that were ruined, because I wasn't the one who planned anything. But about a week or so before my birthday, I started having some suspicions that someone was planning a party for me. I don't know why I started thinking this. The ions just seemed to be off; the stars were misaligned. I knew. Somehow I knew.
So I told the roommate I had at the time, "Roommate, I think someone is planning me a surprise party. I don't know who, but I know someone is planning it." That roommate and I got along really well, but we weren't extremely close friends. I figured she would be able to keep a secret that I knew someone else's secret.
My birthday arrived and my suspicions became even more confirmed. My friends (who all knew it was my birthday) completely ignored the fact that it was my birthday. That's something people only do when they are trying to hide the fact that they're going to suprise you later. I mean, that's classic 80's sitcom. Classic.
So again, I said to my roommate, "Roommate, I am pretty sure that someone is throwing me a surprise party."
And then this girl who I sorta kinda knew, but not really, called me up and said, "Hey, do you want to come down to the student center later and hang out?"
I said, "Why? We have never really hung out like that before?"
She said, "Oh, I just thought it would be fun to spend some time with you. Can you meet me at the student center at...say 6:30 sharp?"
Yeah. I knew exactly what was going on. She was the bait. She was the lure to get me down to the student center where my surprise party was to be held.
So I turned to my roommate. "Roommate, I'm absolutely CERTAIN that someone is throwing me a surprise party!"
My roommate sighed heavily. "Yes, Ruth. Someone is throwing you a surprise party. It's me. Are you happy, now?"
D'oh.
I went to the student center at 6:30. I acted surprised. I had a great time with my friends, and all in all, it was a fantastic party and a fantastic birthday. But to this day, I still feel guilty for figuring out my roommate's secret and THEN being stupid enough to tell her about it.
The second surprise party I had was on my 25th birthday. At this point, I had already learned from previous mistakes. I told all my friends multiple times that I did NOT under any circumstances want a suprise party...or a party of any kind. What I wanted on my birthday was to spend some time with my boyfriend.
Only my boyfriend spent most of the day ignoring me. I was already depressed about turning 25. I was not feeling well that day. Then, my boyfriend ignored me all day. He didn't meet me for lunch like I asked him to. He didn't meet me for dinner. So I had a serious case of the grumps by about 7:00 that night.
My friends came by to cheer me up. "Ruth, why don't you get out of your room. It's your birthday! Come down to the student center with us and have some fun!"
"No," I said firmly. "It's my birthday, my boyfriend has ignored me all day, and I can be miserable if I want to." (You would cry too, if it happened to you...)
"Really, we don't want you to be stuck in your room," they implored. "Come down to the student center with us. We can play pool or watch movies or whatever you want. Just don't sit all alone in your room."
"No," I said again. "I want to be left alone."
Finally, they realized I wasn't going to come with them. So one of my friends said, "Okay, Ruth, we wanted this to be a surprise, but we're having a party for you, so you kind of have to come to the student center with us. Now. We're late."
D'oh.
And let me tell you, that was probably the most awkward party I've ever been to. I asked them NOT to do it, and they did it. And it was dreadful. My boyfriend was there. He was acting strange. My mood continued to be off. Everyone eventually left because of the tension in the air.
And later on that night, I got dumped.
On my birthday.
Fun times.
...
Anyways...
So I'm not expecting or suspecting any of my friends to throw me a party, surprise or otherwise, but just in case you're one of my friends and the idea popped into your head, I advise you to pop the idea right back out.
I'm socially awkward. I'm introspective. I'm an introvert. In other words, I don't always like people! :-D
I like surprises, but NOT surprise social interactions. If I know I'm going to have to be social, I have better time to prepare myself for it. If a social encounter just jumps out at me and says, "SURPRISE!" then there's a good chance I'm not going to be the best company. In fact, I might get really excited and punch you in the face.
So if you want to throw me a party, go for it...just let me know about it in advance. You've been warned.
When I was a little girl, I never had birthday parties with friends. My mom always just made a cake for the family and we ate ice cream and I received presents. I didn't live in this world that most kids seem to live in now--if you don't have a HUGE party for your kids EVERY year, you're apparently a bad parent. I am not picking on my parents. I enjoyed my childhood birthdays. Still, there was a part of me that secretly longed for someone, anyone, to throw me a surprise party.
The surprise parties I saw on the stupid 80's sitcoms all seemed so much fun. I wanted for people to hide, then jump out and shout "SURPRISE!" as soon as I showed up.
And then I grew up.
In my life, I have had two surprise birthday parties. Both were while I was at college. Both were...less than ideal.
Now the first one was actually fun, but it didn't turn out as planned. It wasn't my plans that were ruined, because I wasn't the one who planned anything. But about a week or so before my birthday, I started having some suspicions that someone was planning a party for me. I don't know why I started thinking this. The ions just seemed to be off; the stars were misaligned. I knew. Somehow I knew.
So I told the roommate I had at the time, "Roommate, I think someone is planning me a surprise party. I don't know who, but I know someone is planning it." That roommate and I got along really well, but we weren't extremely close friends. I figured she would be able to keep a secret that I knew someone else's secret.
My birthday arrived and my suspicions became even more confirmed. My friends (who all knew it was my birthday) completely ignored the fact that it was my birthday. That's something people only do when they are trying to hide the fact that they're going to suprise you later. I mean, that's classic 80's sitcom. Classic.
So again, I said to my roommate, "Roommate, I am pretty sure that someone is throwing me a surprise party."
And then this girl who I sorta kinda knew, but not really, called me up and said, "Hey, do you want to come down to the student center later and hang out?"
I said, "Why? We have never really hung out like that before?"
She said, "Oh, I just thought it would be fun to spend some time with you. Can you meet me at the student center at...say 6:30 sharp?"
Yeah. I knew exactly what was going on. She was the bait. She was the lure to get me down to the student center where my surprise party was to be held.
So I turned to my roommate. "Roommate, I'm absolutely CERTAIN that someone is throwing me a surprise party!"
My roommate sighed heavily. "Yes, Ruth. Someone is throwing you a surprise party. It's me. Are you happy, now?"
D'oh.
I went to the student center at 6:30. I acted surprised. I had a great time with my friends, and all in all, it was a fantastic party and a fantastic birthday. But to this day, I still feel guilty for figuring out my roommate's secret and THEN being stupid enough to tell her about it.
The second surprise party I had was on my 25th birthday. At this point, I had already learned from previous mistakes. I told all my friends multiple times that I did NOT under any circumstances want a suprise party...or a party of any kind. What I wanted on my birthday was to spend some time with my boyfriend.
Only my boyfriend spent most of the day ignoring me. I was already depressed about turning 25. I was not feeling well that day. Then, my boyfriend ignored me all day. He didn't meet me for lunch like I asked him to. He didn't meet me for dinner. So I had a serious case of the grumps by about 7:00 that night.
My friends came by to cheer me up. "Ruth, why don't you get out of your room. It's your birthday! Come down to the student center with us and have some fun!"
"No," I said firmly. "It's my birthday, my boyfriend has ignored me all day, and I can be miserable if I want to." (You would cry too, if it happened to you...)
"Really, we don't want you to be stuck in your room," they implored. "Come down to the student center with us. We can play pool or watch movies or whatever you want. Just don't sit all alone in your room."
"No," I said again. "I want to be left alone."
Finally, they realized I wasn't going to come with them. So one of my friends said, "Okay, Ruth, we wanted this to be a surprise, but we're having a party for you, so you kind of have to come to the student center with us. Now. We're late."
D'oh.
And let me tell you, that was probably the most awkward party I've ever been to. I asked them NOT to do it, and they did it. And it was dreadful. My boyfriend was there. He was acting strange. My mood continued to be off. Everyone eventually left because of the tension in the air.
And later on that night, I got dumped.
On my birthday.
Fun times.
...
Anyways...
So I'm not expecting or suspecting any of my friends to throw me a party, surprise or otherwise, but just in case you're one of my friends and the idea popped into your head, I advise you to pop the idea right back out.
I'm socially awkward. I'm introspective. I'm an introvert. In other words, I don't always like people! :-D
I like surprises, but NOT surprise social interactions. If I know I'm going to have to be social, I have better time to prepare myself for it. If a social encounter just jumps out at me and says, "SURPRISE!" then there's a good chance I'm not going to be the best company. In fact, I might get really excited and punch you in the face.
So if you want to throw me a party, go for it...just let me know about it in advance. You've been warned.
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