In my immediate circle of friends, there is one person that has a tendency to invite herself to whatever events/happenings we have planned. In a group of friends as big as mine, there is a natural tendency for factions of the group to plan smaller things (dinner, shopping, etc) for those who they are closest with in the group rather than for all the friends. Everyone knows that the bigger the group is the more difficult it is to plan something that everyone wants to do, so we hang out in our smaller “factions” for the most part. This person, however, just doesn’t quite get that and tends to show up at any given time unannounced, unexpected, and sometimes unwanted.
In terms of family, I have an extended family member who has a habit of inviting himself to outings my immediate family plans, such as going out to the movies or dinner. It doesn’t even have to be a formally planned outing; he’s often come over just to hang out and watch TV or eat a home-cooked meal (my mother is a great cook). I know he’s family, but I still find it a little weird that he’ll just invite himself to come over, particularly if there’s nothing planned. It’s not like my family is an exciting host as more often than not each of us are preoccupied with our own agendas and can’t afford to divert attention to guests!
I’ve always been particularly cautious of inviting myself to events/places because I know I’m not always happy to see others who have invited themselves. It places everyone in an awkward situation: the people who didn’t invite the person, and the person who might not be welcome but still showed up anyway. And even though I’ve had somewhat uncomfortable encounters with people who just show up and assume I will be flattered with their presence, I still have yet to find a strategy to handle that type of situation. I’ve no issue on calling out people on misjudgments, but I know the people I am with do have problems with doing that so a much subtler, more low-key way of handling it is needed.
Question of the Week: How do you handle people that have invited themselves to an event? Do you think that it is appropriate for one to do so, or does it make you feel uncomfortable?
A girl will never forget the first boy she ever likes.
- He’s Just Not That Into You
I watched He’s Just Not That Into You recently and the above quote got me reminiscing about the first boy I ever had a crush on. It’s true; a girl never forgets. It doesn’t matter if the crush was in college, middle school, or even kindergarten. No matter when it happened, a girl always remembers.
My first crush was on a boy that was in my class in elementary school. He had blond hair and blue eyes and a wicked sense of humor that always made me laugh. Nothing ever came close to happening between us, though. He was charismatic; I was shy. He was popular; I was not. He was too well-noticed by everyone in our class and I was too soft-spoken to register on anyone’s radar.
When we entered middle school, we were separated by the fact that our last names began with letters on opposite ends of the alphabet. He liked another girl by then, and I had lost interest and was content with being friends, however loose the term might have been (we were really acquaintances at best by that point). Then I moved overseas and I never saw or heard from him again.
I looked him up on Facebook the other day as I was curious to see where he ended up after all of these years. He’s currently an engineering student at a prestigious university and, by all accounts, seems to be doing pretty well for himself. Somehow, I doubt we would recognize each other on the off chance we ever crossed paths. I am nothing like the girl I was when I was in elementary school, and something tells me he’s changed immensely since then as well.
Question of the Week: Do you remember the first person you ever liked?
Almost everyone who has a Facebook account has heard of the Farmville application. Essentially, it’s a virtual farm where Facebook users can grow crops, tend to animals, and build a farm. You can visit your friends’ farms and watch your own farm slowly change from a pathetic-looking plot of grass to an expansive, thriving farm.
Personally, I don’t play Farmville, but that doesn’t mean I’m not curious about this game that over half of my friends are crazy about. There has been a lot of debate in my group of friends about the merits of Farmville, and I’ve come to the conclusion that there are two types of people in this world: people that Farmville, and people that don’t. There is just no other explanation for this intense, obsessive Facebook app. It’s kind of like the Jetman craze two years ago, which makes me wonder what up and coming app will be the next big thing!
Question of the Week: Do you Farmville?
