i'm going to rant. be forewarned.
i don't get the hullabaloo about birthdays. i literally had nothing to do with it. i had no part of my conception, and i really didn't help with the birthing process. i realize that birthday celebrations started in the middle ages to celebrate another year of life for the child, but this was when infant mortality rates were still super high, like in the 60th percentile (I have no idea if that statistic is correct; i just made it up. but you know...92% of all statistics are made up...). today, in the U.S. at least, infant mortality rates are significantly lower. we don't need to celebrate the fact that i haven't died yet. plus, i'm now several years out of my childhood. the whole thing is just weird to me. now, i'm not going to lie, i LOVE getting presents. i like the fact that my mom comes out for the weekend and we shop, and she buys me stuff, and i get to choose where we eat every meal. the rest of it... all day long, people tell you "happy birthday" and i have yet to figure out the appropriate response to that. "thanks"? "yep"? "don't tell me; tell my parents"? i usually go with the first, but it still seems strange. what am I thanking them for? remembering that it's my birthday? they really don't have to.
and I know the deal about how birthdays are a chance to celebrate the people in your life who love you and to be happy that they're in your life, but do you need to wait until october 6th to do that? you can celebrate me being in your life any day of the year. i'll let you. it's like that line from gatsby: "Let us learn to show friendship for a man when he is alive and not after he is dead." now, i understand that the context is a little different, because in the book he's talking about how we should treat people when they die, and i'm not dead yet (ironic that i'm discussing this quote, in light of the original purpose for birthday celebrations), but the idea is still there.
i'm not anti-birthday, and I don't hate birthdays or anything. i'm not opposed to celebrating birthdays, giving and receiving birthday presents, people telling me "happy birthday," telling other people "happy birthday," going to birthday parties, having birthday parties, birthday cake, decorating for others' birthdays, or anything else having to do with birthdays.
i just don't get it. for me it's one of those funny little social customs and makes less sense than the others. i play along with it, and it's all cool. i just don't get it. so if i don't send you a "happy birthday" message on your facebook, and if i forget your birthday, please don't feel offended. i just don't remember birthdays. i'll probably remember your shoe size, what you majored in in college, what your favorite sweater was when you were 16, and what your parents do for a living, but i'll probably forget your birthday. hell, half the time i forget my birthday.
i just don't get it.
wait until you hear my rant about saying "god bless you" when someone sneezes. it's a doozy.
4 comments:
you feel about birthdays the way i feel about funerals. pointless! please, oh please, do NOT lay out my dead body in stage makeup and have conversations about everyday life around it. this is disgusting and morbid. cremate my ass, dump the ashes out along the side of the road so you don't have to buy a plot and let's move on.
that just reminded me... i'm not sure what your dad's wishes are for his remains after his death (god forbid it!), but i really feel like he should be buried beside the road. i think it's where he's truly the most comfortable and where many of his happiest moments have been spent. (if he ever finds a playstation 3, have him call me.) and aside from that, it allows us all to be very lazy. we wouldn't have to go and "visit" his remains or put flowers out. we would just drive by him on the way to work and toss a sentimental note out the window.
i'm sure people think my heart is a hunk of granite. i just find our funerary customes to be the most disrespectful thing you could do for an old dead dude. i'd really much rather you all had a rockin' party instead. you know, play songs i liked, eat lots of cheese and baked goods, think of me. just, no funeral. and if someone doesn't get closure, they will learn a valuable leson about always saying 'i love you' and never leaving angry and living each day like it's your last and all of the mumbo jumbo.
challenge: use the words "mumbo jumbo" in your next blog.
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I LIKE SAYING HAPPY BIRTHDAY AND REMEMBERING THE DAY!
there. it's out. telling you happy birthday is more for me than it is for you. whatev. who's suprised that something i do is for selfish reasons? nobody. and that's fine.
i hope you got my voicemail today cause dammit, it's important to me that you know i was thinking about you.
blah
Well....I feel responsible for you feelings about your birthday since I was the one that allowed you "out into the world"! Actually, I could not stand keeping you in any longer since you decided to lay/lie (whichever is correct) on my sciatic nerve for the last 6 weeks of your life inside of me. Due to that, I could not stand, sit, walk or lay down without pain! So, I really wanted to see you and have you OUT!!! So feel free to give me awards, gifts, etc. whenever you want. And by the way...you better not ever forget my birthday!!!
I do agree with Heidi regarding funerals and dad and I both want to be cremated or given to medical. So you kids better be using our living time wisely!!!!
By the way....have a "Happy Belated Birthday!!"""
Love,
Mom
SARAH!
BLOG!
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