Wednesday, January 18, 2006

Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

Yo, Alexander - I feel you, dawg.

I have to say, yesterday was pretty much the suck. My secretary didn't remember that it was my birthday, which is a problem because she is in charge of the cake and (more importantly) the email that says, "It is so-and-so's bday, join us for cake." While I'm all about cake (cake!!), the point is that the email alerts everyone you work with to back off a little. No cake, no email means the peeps are not on notice.

At one point during the day, I was in a meeting in my office, being purposefully late for another meeting (this was my last opportunity this week to talk to the person in my office), and keeping an eye on the phone because I hadn't found time to call an attorney in Kansas. When I got out of the second meeting, it was 7 pm. Nice.

The ever-sweet brimful had sent out an eVite update to the peeps doin' it up with me on Saturday with some changes, and noting that it was my birthday. After the email, I received voicemail from two of my closest friends who really should have known better.

I've written and rewritten this part, and I think I have it down to two things: (1) because I'm laid-back about most things, I sometimes feel that people take me for granted and/or I don't end up getting what I want, (2) do not bullshit me.

Example for point (1): I ended a friendship with a woman who refused to eat "ethnic" food. She said that it affected her stomach, and I was sympathetic at first, but I really can't stand having "American" food all the time. If you can eat a burger and fries with impunity, you can find something on a Thai, Indian, Mexican, etc. menu that you can eat without ill effects. Her insistence became emblematic of narrow-mindedness, and the idea that her wishes were more important than mine.

On point (2), I really don't care if a friend forgets my birthday, but don't insult my intelligence by telling me that you "didn't have a chance to catch me at work." If that's actually what happened, you would have just emailed me - like everyone else. Sending me a voicemail after b's announcement is rather telling. This is the second time that this friend has ventured into bullshit, so I'm not feeling very generous.

I feel bad for feeling bad. No one (I know) died. It's not as bad as my 16th birthday (Persian Gulf War, anyone?) It could have been much, much worse - but feeling guilty about feeling bad still feels bad.

Amiga saved me from crying into my Tom Yam: we met at one of my favorite Thai restaurants in Palo Alto. You know how much I love the Thai. Then, the night just got sweeter - brimful and Roopali met me at the Cheesecake Factory for the Cheesecake. A great end to a bad day.

11 comments:

wt said...

If only they would have checked their Friendster birthday alerts in the morning, none of this would have happened.

What kind of cheesecake?

Anonymous said...

happy late birthday ! i am sorry i did not wish you yesterday - it registered because i read your blog in RSS but i was still loopy and sick so was not linking to actual webpages and commenting. just taking in.

so ... i hope you have a good un-birthday today!

and your friend who wouldn't eat "ethnic" food... i'd even think using that term would sort of imply a bit of closed-mindedness from the start. (and most of that so-called "ethnic" food is better for you than burgers or fried chicken!!) Wonder if she finds spaghetti "ethnic" ? ... lol

maisnon said...

wt: Actually, brimful and I split a brownie sundae sandwich. It was bigger than my HEAD!

Anonymous said...

Dude, that brownie sundae sandwich is still giving me a tummy ache!

Anyway, we're going to turn the mother out on Saturday night and turn your frown upside down. And maybe drag you to karaoke if things get really out of control. ;)

oodles said...

Cheesecake Factory and no cheesecake? What??!!

Roonie said...

because I'm laid-back about most things, I sometimes feel that people take me for granted and/or I don't end up getting what I want

This is how I feel, too.

Anonymous said...

Ooooo, I admit to being one of those who didn't do the thoughtful even though Fster (and the rest of our mutual admiration society of bloggers!) wished you a wonderful birthday. So: happy (belated) birthday. Eat loads of chocolate, smile, and relax with a refreshingly "ethnic" food coma.

SM never wrote me back re: VAWA, but from reading your updates, I see you've found similarly meaningful oppsrtunities. :-)

Vinu said...

happy birthday girl!

Anonymous said...

Happy birthday, Ms. M!

chick pea said...

happy birthday maison...

party the entire year.. hell it was my 1 month bday yesterday and i celebrated anyways :)

Heather said...

hey! this is what happens when i don't check the blogs for a week, i miss important events! happy late birthday, and i'm glad your day at least ended well. i know as much as anyone how sucky birthdays usually are, so i shoot for "no nuclear warfare" on my day and try to be happy with that. sounds like you've got some good friends out there backing you up to - nothing can solve a problem like giant ice cream can.