Someone's Mama Didn't Raise Her Right

I recently received an invitation to a baby shower. I don’t mind going to showers, bridal or baby, I don’t. I just prefer to go to showers of women I KNOW and not showers of women who just happened to have worked for my Better Half within the last 3 years, even if they were employees for many years. Perhaps it is just the anti-social part of me.

So I have this invitation in my hand and I’m trying to figure out some way out of it, gazing at the calendar hoping for a dreadfully hot soccer game I must attend, maybe my better half is out of town and “oh, I’m so sorry, I can’t find a sitter.” No such luck, so I put it aside trying to figure out if I just flat out say no, if it will cause any marital strife. It’s all about picking your battles.

My Better Half comes home last night and says everyone at work is griping about this invitation because it’s a ‘just stop by and drop off a gift party’. Wha? I pick up the invitation and sure enough, it says, “Stop by between 1 and 4 and visit SusieQ”. You have got to be frickin’ kidding me. Is this like a drive by shooting, but instead of unloading bullets, you just throw a gift at the house/soon to be Mother?

I said, “Well, there are four women putting this on, so I am sure there will be a lot of food and stuff.”
He replies, “Nope. Not from what they say at work.”
Now I’m aghast and I tell him I have never heard of such a thing. He informs me that this is evidently fairly common now, according to the women in his office.

You have got to be kidding me. When did it become OK to invite people to just come by and drop off a gift? Where is the hospitality? The meeting of all her friends and family? The food? The music? The incredibly insipid games I hate, but play to amuse the guest of honor?

Hunh. I have one word for this. Tacky. Notice the capital T. TACKY!!!! TACKY!!!!

Now I have my excuse. I looked at my Better Half and said, “Screw that. Why bother to stop by. I’ll just mail her something or better yet, you can have someone in the office drop it off with theirs when they go to this drive by party. Saves us postage.” Solved that real quick.