Wednesday, August 29, 2007

The Birthday

Well, I am now officially 26 years old. Not old by any means, but it was definitely a hard one for me to accept. Nothing really special about the day, I worked like usual and ran around, still trying to find a cute top or dress to wear out to dinner on Friday night.

Can I say something without sounding like a spoiled brat or anything? I'm kind of sad about the presents. I still have one present to get and that is from The Swimmer when he comes tomorrow night. My Mom is kind of in a financial bind right now, so I told her not to get me anything and I'm okay with that, but she still did send me some really gorgeous orchids. Otherwise though, the one person I was counting on getting a good present from, Crazy Girl, completely and totally disappointed me to the point where I am so sad and really angry at her. First of all, Crazy Girl and I went out to dinner last night. She didn't even offer to pay for my dinner. I was shocked, but didn't say anything. Then, she gave me my present.

Wait for it.

Wait for it.








A $5 t-shirt from Wal-Mart. SERIOUSLY?! After I put so much thought into her birthday gift last year? She loves perfume but always has such a hard time picking out perfume for herself, so when I saw that Sephora had this little gift thing where it's a set of like 8 or 10 little samples of different perfumes and then a gift card to get one of the perfumes. Totally the perfect gift for her and she loved it. She then gets me a $5 t-shirt for my birthday?

I could totally understand if she were going through money problems or something, but she definitely isn't. This is the friend who was in the hospital a few weeks ago and I sat in her hospital room with her for 5 hours everyday and brought her stuff to keep her entertained because that is what I thought she would do for me. Now I'm not so sure. The sucky thing is, I can't even tell her that I'm pissed off. I just don't understand why she would do something like that.

I really don't mean to sound bratty or ungrateful, but I'm really upset about this. I just come from the "school of thought" that you kind of give someone a gift of comparable value to what they have given you unless you are not of the means to. Does that make sense? I mean, it's not like I'm rich and she isn't. We have the same job at the same company, and if anything, she makes more and her mortgage is less.

For some reason, this has really upset me today and the more I think about it, the more pissed off I get. I returned the shirt today because the more I looked at it, the angrier I got, I just had to get it out of my possession.

What sucks is that this almost makes things totally unfair for The Swimmer. He doesn't know it, but his present is really the only real present I'm getting this year (besides good health, family and friends), so I'm really hoping I like it. I hate that I feel like I'm being such a spoiled brat for being sad about my lack of material presents. It makes me sad that I'm caring about that when I should be happy for everything that I already have - the best Mom in the world, a hilarious, sweet, loving and spoiled kitty, a great job with many benefits, a beautiful home that I own, I'm debt-free, I have a nice savings account, a nice 401K, many caring friends, loving family and last but not least a truly sweet and caring boyfriend.

Anyways, I'm sure this weekend will be very relaxing, it better be, because I'm exhausted and I could really use some relaxation!!

7 comments:

GatorGirlintheCity said...

happy birthday!

I do totally understand where you are coming from though. It is hard when you put all this work into a gift for a friend and they don't seem to give the sam consideration Again, it isn't about money but about thoughtfulness...

Samantha said...

I don't think it's crazy you are feeling that way. Sometimes a $5 gift is fine if it has special meaning but it sounds like this was not one of those cases?

Single Girl said...

Yeah, it's not about money, it is totally about thoughtfulness and there was absolutely no thought put into this. None. Zip. Zero. Zilch. Nada.

Samantha said...

Then it's totally understandable that it was hurtful. Just a touching and well-written card is acceptable on a birthday if it has thought. I'm so sorry you were disappointed and I have no doubt The Swimmer will make your birthday look up.

Anonymous said...

It's not about the money clearly, its about the sentiment. However, I feel I must point out (with a smile), that you've nicknamed her Crazy Girl. I don't know the reason behind that... But someone who deserves that moniker clearly has a history of upsetting you in the past. So, her actions are probably not that surprising, though understandably hurtful.

PS. Orchids are beautiful

PPS. I have no doubt that swimmer will make this a very special bday

PPPS. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Single Girl said...

Yes, her nickname is Crazy Girl, but mainly because of the fact that she has 7 dogs and is from New Jersey, so she definitely has some of the typically "New Jersey" characteristics of being very loud and neurotic as well as a bit gaudy with her jewelry.

Anonymous said...

Yes, it makes sense to be upset *if she considers birthdays as important as you do.* If she doesn't, not so much. I have friends who don't notice I have a birthday. This doesn't have anything to do with how they feel about me - it is all about the way they feel about birthdays: No Big Deal. So, you have a friend who doesn't show her care for you in the same way you would show it. She is a different person from you. If that isn't ok, tell her that you need her to be more like you. But if it is ok to be friends and still have different ways of looking at things, like birthdays, then you might try giving her a break.