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Anti-birthday Whore
16 years ago
If you follow some of the bustier furs on FA, you might know that 'Stel' is having a birthday April 1st.
First off, Happy birthday Stel. I'm pretty sure we've never spoken IC or otherwise, but your fursona has great tits.
Second, my birthday was yesterday, the 22nd.
My housemates didn't wish me a happy birthday until one of them which uses Facebook happened to sign in and saw my friend from where I lived five years ago had wished me a happy birthday on 'my wall'.
Of the people I talk to via messenger on a daily basis, only two of them knew it was my birthday and again, facebook is to blame.
Of everyone I play with in mushes and mucks, only one page mailed me a happy birthday.
Of family members, mom and dad both called but only the grandparents sent a card in which my only present (a check) was received.
One of those life lessons that the over thirty fail to tell the under thirty is that birthdays matter less and less to everyone around you until they become an excuse for someone to bring a cheap cake to the office. Since this reality check is never distributed to the gleeful 20 year old and the drunken stupor of the 21st can't be bothered, it's a slow fizzle of decreasingly celebrated birthdays as the chipper parties of our youth descend into the social backwaters of thirty something.
I think the source of mild contempt that spawns a journal posting like this has something to do with the exploit capable power of youth and how it's lost over the years. It's perfectly acceptable for a 19 year old to parade into Chili's and get a free birthday dessert surrounded by singing wait staff because they declared it's their birthday. Likewise, in the halls of furry, the young and inspired may receive anything from a free IC lap dance to gratis artwork to celebrate their birthday. At least until people stop caring.
The whole concept of celebrating a birthday is a bit strange if you think about it. It's a celebration of a person leaving the womb. Not that they were particularly cute or intelligent as a newborn, but through a series of other events that are less celebrated they've survived long enough to become the person they are today. So in the proper sense, it's the anniversary of your birth; but as no one is passing around your baby pictures and applauding the hour you cried and shat your way into the world, it's really your personal holiday where people appreciate the fact you exist.
Presents and cards are nice. But I don't get near enough appreciation that I exist. In My Opinion.
First off, Happy birthday Stel. I'm pretty sure we've never spoken IC or otherwise, but your fursona has great tits.
Second, my birthday was yesterday, the 22nd.
My housemates didn't wish me a happy birthday until one of them which uses Facebook happened to sign in and saw my friend from where I lived five years ago had wished me a happy birthday on 'my wall'.
Of the people I talk to via messenger on a daily basis, only two of them knew it was my birthday and again, facebook is to blame.
Of everyone I play with in mushes and mucks, only one page mailed me a happy birthday.
Of family members, mom and dad both called but only the grandparents sent a card in which my only present (a check) was received.
One of those life lessons that the over thirty fail to tell the under thirty is that birthdays matter less and less to everyone around you until they become an excuse for someone to bring a cheap cake to the office. Since this reality check is never distributed to the gleeful 20 year old and the drunken stupor of the 21st can't be bothered, it's a slow fizzle of decreasingly celebrated birthdays as the chipper parties of our youth descend into the social backwaters of thirty something.
I think the source of mild contempt that spawns a journal posting like this has something to do with the exploit capable power of youth and how it's lost over the years. It's perfectly acceptable for a 19 year old to parade into Chili's and get a free birthday dessert surrounded by singing wait staff because they declared it's their birthday. Likewise, in the halls of furry, the young and inspired may receive anything from a free IC lap dance to gratis artwork to celebrate their birthday. At least until people stop caring.
The whole concept of celebrating a birthday is a bit strange if you think about it. It's a celebration of a person leaving the womb. Not that they were particularly cute or intelligent as a newborn, but through a series of other events that are less celebrated they've survived long enough to become the person they are today. So in the proper sense, it's the anniversary of your birth; but as no one is passing around your baby pictures and applauding the hour you cried and shat your way into the world, it's really your personal holiday where people appreciate the fact you exist.
Presents and cards are nice. But I don't get near enough appreciation that I exist. In My Opinion.
If you're not part of a social network that gives you the reinforcement you need, that is a legitimate problem and not whining.
Good luck, doctor.
And yes, once you do something over and over again, it can start losing a little bit of its meaning. I celebrated my 30th birthday with great style (and resulting minor injury), but since then it's been more of an ordinary day for me. Birthdays were special when I was very young and had had few of them, or when birthdays and Christmas were the two times of the year I could expect the presents that I had no way to buy myself. Now I've had enough birthdays where it's more like the major milestones are the ones to be appreciated.. 30, 35, 40, and so forth.