Birthdays haven't really been something I look forward to for quite some time now. The last time I think I cared about my birthday was probably my 35th and I don't remember why that is. I owned a bar back in those days and it was an excuse to invite the entire town over so that my birthday gift would be that my bar made a ton of money. It was a little sneaky on my part but to be fair we did give away a bunch of food and cake.
My birthday was in the past few days and I honestly forgot until I turned on my computer and has a bunch of FB messages letting me know "HBD" and the like. None of these people actually know it is my birthday, FB knows and it tells them. For several years I changed my birthday to the wrong day on FB just to see how many people would believe it and almost everyone did. It was a little disappointing that one of the people who wished me happy birthday on the wrong day was my own mother.
I forgave her for it.
Well once you get past a certain age and are not a child anymore I think that mostly birthdays lose a lot of steam. I think this is even moreso if you happen to live in a city that is currently undergoing lockdown provisions for Covid-19. I couldn't go to a nice beachfront bar if I wanted to, they are all shut.
It was kind of nice that the owner of my condo building came by and gave me a cake. She also brought by a bunch of the people that live in the building and sang Happy Birthday. I honestly could have done without that and Nadi was not a fan either. She barked at them and wanted them to go away. Honestly, I was standing awkwardly at my door after getting the cake, thanked everyone and then just really wanted them to leave. My condo is small and I don't really keep it super tidy so I couldn't invite them in. I hate surprises but i do love cheesecake... So i guess you have to take one with the other.
I kind of wish that they hadn't invited all the other people in the building because now I am going to feel obligated to do the same thing and I don't want to. It's a circle of gift-giving that I left many years ago and don't care to get re-involved in.
Later I went to a friend's rooftop area and drank some beer so now here we are, the day after my birthday and I am hungover and hungry - just like every birthday year. I think the best I have ever felt on the day after a birthday was one year when I was quite sick and therefore didn't drink or have a party at all. I didn't even leave the house. The following day I was done with the sickness for the most part and felt great!
I wonder what year it is that most people stop caring about birthdays? I would imagine it is probably 30. Even though my 30's and 40's were much better than my 20's as far as overall happiness is concerned, I don't think I ever looked forward to a birthday after 30. 40 was ok and the party was huge and I called it my "halfway to dead" party and a ton of people turned up and spent money at my bar.
I suppose a big part of my disdain for them is that I don't want to get wrapped up in the need to reciprocate and perhaps that is a bit of a Scrooge move on my part. I don't care about getting older, I just don't really need or want the attention. I always tell people to not get any gifts for me because I wont get any for them on their birthdays. I don't do this in a mean way, I just don't understand why I should still get all wrapped up in this ceremony that even I don't want to participate in.
So how about you? Do you have parties on your birthday?
Happy Belated Birthday! I stop celebrating a while ago. I can even go trekking in the Himalaya alone or go to a morgue to identify a body. Extreme loneliness ain't my concern.
I stopped caring when I reached 21.. nothing else to look forward to then. I could legally gamble, drink and whatever. After that I just hoped that it passed without notice. Never the case. Maybe next year they all forget. Perfect!
I have a complete visual of you standing there in your apartment door with Nadi barking in the background at the Birthday carolers. Hahaha.. I would have loved to be a fly on the wall. So awkward it's extremely funny. Glad it wasn't me though.. hehehe..
Happy Birthday ;-P
the 21st birthday is a winner. I remember celebrating mine at a bar that I had been drinking at with a fake ID for two years at that point. They thought it was funny and since it was a college town, i suspect they knew. 21 is an important one though, and yeah, then they aren't really exciting from that point forward.
I'd have whored my own birthday for cheesecake, but I'm fickle like that! I also can't be arsed with birthdays, the last party I had was when I was 40 and hell was it a good one, I'm 54 now. I have never bothered with them though to be honest. As I approached my 30th, I warned close friends not to organise a party, they knew I was a miserable, anti-social git but I had the feeling they would anyway, especially as it dropped on our regular Friday night out so just in case, I jumped on a train after work and buggered off the 200miles to spend a pleasant evening alone with a reflective beer and some nice food alone in London. The phone started ringing about 8pm so that got switched off!
They had a great night, scoffed all the cake and got pissed. I got to chill and get some space. Win-win.
Happy Birthday you miserable fucker! I'll raise a glass to you for spending it on your terms........but that cheesecake...................
Oh...have you ever worked out why they don't insert your name into Happy Birthday when they sing it in Asia? hmmm, perplexing.
Hope things are relaxing a little there. I heard you'd got a few cases out of nowhere which had wound up the authorities. Best wishes.
Brilliant answer. The no name during birthday song probably comes from not knowing people's names perhaps? Or maybe because Asian names can be really long and don't fit in the song? I dunno, just a guess.
Yeah, a few new cases popped up. I wonder how long their gonna keep this up thinking that can achieve zero exposure. We'll see i guess!
I think when people gets old enough or mature enough, birthday's aren't special as it was in previous years. I am in my teens only right now but birthday didn't give me that happiness and I think I miss those little things on which I was the happiest.
Happy birthday anyways! Enjoy your cheesecake.
funny thing about that cheesecake, it had tiny bits of wood that were holding the tiny strawberries in position. That's a fantastic method of hurting someone that didn't know about it (me).
Probably the baker didn't know that they don't actually need to insert that when making cheesecake or when you are holding it tight with a firm. And cheesecake are supposed to be creamy, i hope the past was fine lol
Aw man happy birthday anyway!
I am a lot like you in that I felt publicizing and celebrating was a blitz for attention I didn’t want to make. It is the same for Christmas for me. I love buying nice things for others and used to enjoy the time off (when I worked for someone else) but really didn’t care much for presents.
Back to birthdays though. I like to celebrate silently, treat myself with something I normally wouldn’t, and let it pass without fanfare. I hope yours was a good one anyhow and that a few people paused to reflect on how much they appreciate you.
Are ya 1? Are ya 2? Are ya 3?...
I'll still wish you a happy birthday even though you don't celebrate. It seems rude not. If anything, it's worth remembering your mum most likely went through a lot to give birth to you on this day, despite her forgetting the day!!!
I don't like celebrating birthdays now as I don't like being reminded how old I am, you know what Asian' girls are like ....
well for Asian girls it is always your 21st birthday... forever. 😄
That's the correct answer 👍👍👍👍
I rarely have birthday parties... I usually have a small dinner with the closest family members and that's about it.
This year, however, I was thinking about making a larger party and call all of my friends. But... covid came and ruined my plans. I guess that big party wasn't meant to be... 😆
Of course it did. Awwww. Well the next 2 years of my life were meant to be spent living 6 months in 4 different countries and now none of that is going to happen. I feel your pain!
I'm pretty much the same, I often also struggle to remember how old I am! For me, I just don't like being the centre of attention! Which is odd, given my profession...
On the other hand, I will happily celebrate another person's birthday...
So, happy birthday anyway!
lol about remembering the age. I actually told someone the wrong age at the start. It just isn't something I think about unless i am filling out a form.
We had a party when I turned 40 but that is about it. I have pretty much lost track of how old I am. I know when my birthday is, but even a lot of my friends don't even message me anymore outside of Facebook. Like you said, it just isn't that big of a deal anymore.
If I were to leave FB fully (considering that a lot lately) I think no one would know it is my bday other than my Mom and this one woman I know that has the same bday as me. That would be just fine with me too.
Yeah, I have been toying with quitting Facebook for a while. I had to un-follow a good friend today and that kind of has me reconsidering the whole thing all together.
My mother always had a hard time remembering my birthday, because she wasn't there when I was born...