This week's challenge is a Non-Fiction story around the topic "Party Personality".
I hope you'll enjoy the read, but if you don't ... no sweat.
Have a great weekend!!
Party
poopers, poppers, peppers, … errrr.
Party
personality.
That’s an
easy one to write about.
I don’t
have one.
Or two.
Or three.
I know some
people do, depending on the kind of party they’re attending, they will dress
and act differently. I don’t.
Why?
That’s simple:
I don’t play games. I don’t pretend. What you see, is what you get. I don’t
have multiple personalities … well, maybe I do, but not for partying purposes. Besides,
I don’t like to party. There’s too much noise, too many people - most of whom
you don’t know or don’t want to know –
and too much alcohol. There always is, no matter where you go or who you’re
with, there is always, always, too
much alcohol. Sometimes only 1 person will have too much of that, but it’s
enough to ruin the whole evening/party.
I’ve never
liked to party. I’ve never been interested in going to these kinds of events. I
like a good concert every once in a while, but not parties. Not even birthday
parties when a lot of people are invited, or wedding parties, or graduation
parties (which we don’t really have here).
So, I don’t
really have the problem of having (or not) a party personality. I don’t need
one since I don’t attend parties.
Even at
work, all those ‘social gatherings’, they just give me the creeps. Half the
people there, are people you don’t even know because they work in different
departments, or on different floors, different buildings, whatever, but you’re
all slapped together in one big room and ‘have fun’. It’s not my idea of fun, that’s for sure. I prefer
to be at home, in my lazy chair, reading a good book while listening to music I
actually like, or watching a movie for the gazillionth time, or – which happens
more often – sitting at my computer, writing or playing games.
And even if
I did attend parties, I still wouldn’t
need an alternate personality for it.
Why should
I?
Why should I
pretend to be different at a party?
Why couldn’t
I just be me at a party?
Why would I
have to play it sexy, or tough, or hard to get, or easy to get, or whatever?
Why do people
even feel the need to be different at a social gathering?
Why do
people feel the need to play games?
Is it
because they think they’ll find mister right (or mrs right) by playing a game
of make-belief? How could you? How could you possible find the right partner,
if you’re not being true to yourself? How does that make any sense at all?
If people
don’t like me for who I am, why should I pretend to be different to make them
like me?
I know I tried
that, way back when I was still young and innocent (blah). I wanted to be part
of the popular group of girls in school, like everyone else. So I tried to act
like them, talk like them, walk like them, dress like them. Who was I trying to
fool? They could see right through the charade and – honestly – I know none of
them really liked me, they tolerated me in the area. And you want to know why? I’ll
tell you why. Because I was the pitbull, the guard dog. The one they turned to
whenever a boy/guy was bugging them. The one who took action and didn’t think
twice about going up against a guy twice her size. That was why they tolerated
me around. Because I would defend them against attack or bullying.
They never liked me, I know that now. I didn’t know
it then, until one beautiful Friday evening in May 1990 when I found out … the hard
way.
It was my
18th birthday and my mom and stepdad allowed me to throw a party.
I invited
everyone. All of my ‘friends’ from school, and everyone on my volleyball team. I
was excited and looking forward to having a great time. The night of the party,
our doorbell rang once. Just once! When I got the door, my entire
volleyball team was there. They had rendezvoused at the training complex and a
couple of the parents had driven the whole group over to my place from there.
I had an
awesome, fabulous time with real
friends. People whom I didn’t have to
pretend with. People who knew me and who appreciated me for who I was. We all
had a common goal: be better than the opposing team. Because of that common
goal, there was no need to pretend, no need to fake. With them, I was me. No
need for an alternate personality.
When I got
back to school on Monday, I started telling my ‘friends’ how awesome my party
had been and how much fun I’d had and I could see them, looking at each other,
trying to figure out who broke the ‘oath’, who had betrayed the others by
coming to my party.
I knew then
and there, that they didn’t give a damn about me. Either because they knew I was
faking it, or simply because they didn’t care either way.
It was a
lesson learned and I remember it to date.
And I
really like to quote Kiefer Sutherland when asked ‘What is the best advice your
father ever gave you?’. His answer: “Don’t get caught with your pants down.”
There is absolutely
no reason WHAT SO EVER to fake your way through life.
Be true to
yourself because people will either see through the charade, in which case they
won’t like you because you’re lying, or they will find out, sooner or later,
and they won’t like you either, because you lied to them. It’s a lose/lose
situation, every which way you want to look at it.
With me, it’s
very simple: You like me? Great! You don’t? Fine by me.
What you
see is what you get, I don’t do special treatment and I don’t care what people
think.
I am free
to be me.
We all are.
Live and
let live.
So,
seriously, my party personality is the same you’ll see at work, at home or when
I’m grocery shopping.
Party on!
More entries can be found over here
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