Birthday schmirthday - 14/10/2009
It was my 22nd birthday yesterday and…I couldn’t care less.
Got woken up by my mum at 7 a.m. to go to her school office where I’m temping for a bit. Took one tired look at the pile of cards and thought “…Later, definitely later”. I worked until 5 p.m., came back and felt totally drained of all energy. Too exhausted going for a meal with my mum and dad and definitely didn’t want to have a drunken night out with my friends, especially considering I was temping again at the same time today. So we had pizza and I went to bed, knackered, at 11 p.m.; the earliest I’ve been to bed in a long time. All in all, it was just another day.
Was it just because of the working situation after being out of the employment loop for a while? No. I’ve never really felt that birthdays were that important. Sure, if a friend is having a meal, party or night out for their birthday, I’ll happily go and actually have genuine fun. And don’t get me wrong, I’m truly grateful for the presents and kind words on my own. But how I see it is: “Why do you need it to be a birthday to have that fun? Why save presents for one day a year*? Why not just see your friends and family as much as possible and do the same thing whatever the day of the year?”
A birthday isn’t the same as an anniversary, a promotion, passing your driving test or releasing a film/book – those are all things you’ve worked hard to achieve and deserve a celebration for. A birthday is something you have had little input in yourself. In fact, you had absolutely none. If anyone should be congratulated on your birthday, it should be your parents, surely?
Last year, I went to Bournemouth to see friends from university, but this wasn’t especially because it was my birthday. It just so happened that my birthday was when I had a break from working anyway and had enough money to spend on a trip to Bournemouth. It was co-incidence that my birthday fell on that week. I had a great time, but my birthday was the least important part of the trip for me.
I’ll probably see my friends this weekend for a trip to the pub, but once again, I’d hope they’d go to the pub even if wasn’t just a day my mother gave birth over two decades ago…
* Two, if you have a boyfriend or girlfriend on Valentines Day, and up to roughly ten if you celebrate a hoard of other arbitrary holidays. But that’s two whole other rants. Regardless, the point still stands. Buy gifts and treats for the people who mean something to you whenever you think they’d appreciate it.
Copyright © 2009 Andrew Sparkes