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Re: Being "sociable" has its downside.....


mint
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don't you think?

Yes, bees, ants, dogs and wolves and many examples from the insect and animal worlds are sociable beings.  And, so, I am assured, are humans.

Even so, I sometimes wish that people wouldn't have get-togethers, do's, whatever, at inconvenient moments.

I mean it's very nice of you to think that the celebration of your birthday, your spouse's birthday, your wedding anniversary, your grandchild's christening absolutely requires my presence or it just wouldn't be the same.  Yes, nice and flattering perhaps but you must know by now that I am hardly the life and soul of any social gathering.

Oh, of course, I love your company and those of your family and friends but maybe it would be considerate if you didn't invite me for tonight when Spain plays Italy and certainly not next Sunday afternoon when it's the mens' singles final at Wimbledon. 

I've accepted now and there is no graceful way of making an about-turn and it's partly my own fault for not consulting the calendar beforehand and for not having a ready-made excuse [:(]

How can I say this without seeming rude or curmudgeonly or plain ungrateful?

Well, let's put it this way; if you are inviting me just to "make up the numbers", I really really would not be offended if you found someone else to attend.

Brand me "sad" (seems to be a current expression),  a misery, a misanthrope even but please don't pick inconvenient times for your celebrations [I] 

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The trouble is, Sweets, you are just such a nice person that everyone wants a piece of you[:D] A bit too late for tonight,  but couldn't you 'put your back out' when you are gardening this week? That will take care of the Wimbledon finals.
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Pity I don't live near you Sweet17, I would happily go in your place.

 

I curse all the rotten lousy sport on tv at the moment, interfering with my viewing pleasure. Would I stop in and watch one thing.....no not unless I had the obligation IF someone I knew was playing, participating.

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Yes, thanks Sweets! With all the sport on at the moment there's a good excuse to escape into the garden and weed, weed, weed. The horrendous cold in February must have done a lot of good as the garden is looking quite spectacular. It's a lot of work, though.
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OOOOOoooooooooooooooooohhhh how I remember when some friends of ours managed to plan their wedding to coincide with the British Grand Prix. It is a measure of the depth of that friendship that OH agreed to attend AT ALL.

However, like Baldrick, he had formulated a cunning plan....

The cunning plan in question involved secreting a small radio about his person (we are back in the olden days, pre- mobile phone or ipod: indeed, pre-VCR as well, so if you missed a programme, you missed it) and then threading the earphones up his jacket sleeve and out at the collar, providing a discreet means of keeping up with the commentary.

Upon leaving the church, I whispered to Mr Betty to ask for news. I had been impressed at not noticing any evidence of his ruse during the ceremony. He mournfully raised his right arm and there were the earphones, dangling from his cuff.

Yes.....he'd threaded the earphones the wrong way. In order to listen, he would have had to go through the entire ceremony with his right hand over his ear.

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[quote user="sweet 17"]it's partly my own fault for not consulting the calendar beforehand and for not having a ready-made excuse…[/quote]

Yes, that is bad, and you have my fullest sympathy.  You need to be on your toes.  But never mind, there exists a useful and memorable formula for this nightmarish situation.

I remember, back in the last millennium, some D-list celebrity soliciting the presence of another for a dinner party at which Princess Fergusson was due to be exhibited.

The intended victim splendidly replied, after making some show of consulting his cyber-diary :  I am afraid I must decline  -  I find that my wife and I are watching the television that evening…

The riposte seemed such a perfect one that I even briefly debated getting a TV of my own.

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Sorry but isn't this what DVD hard-drive recorders were invented for?

I just don't get the "must watch it while it's happening" thing at all.  It's on TV so what does it matter if it's an hour or two or even a day or two after the event?  Of course you have to avoid the sports pages of the paper for a while but so what?

What would be great would be if they'd hold these sporting events in the winter when I'm bored instead of in the summer when I've got lots of other stuff to do.  Happily, I'm only really interested in motor racing and horse racing and the latter is mega-tedious in the summer as there are no jumps in the way. 

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[quote user="cooperlola"]I just don't get the "must watch it while it's happening" thing at all.[/quote]

I could not agree with you more.  It is almost as infuriating as the guests who express a strong preference for having a today's newspaper, when there are several old ones which are quite as interesting.

[quote user="cooperlola"]Sorry but isn't this what DVD hard-drive recorders were invented for?[/quote]

Yes, and people seem obsessed with filming  -  and 'sharing'  -  every last thing nowadays, including the painful details of the most uninteresting social events.  Perhaps the most obvious solution to S16's dilemma would be to ask for a DVD of the party  -  there inevitably will be one  -  and say that she will enjoy looking at it later. 

  

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Anyone remember an episode of "The Likely Lads" where they were desperately trying not to learn the football match score before being able to see it on Match of the Day?

We have that on a fortnightly basis during F1GP season, and all through the Tour de France. OH HATES knowing the result before he's seen it, yet insists on recording these events to view at his convenience.

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No, I like to watch "in the moment".  Can't have any excitement for me hours later.  How can it, when it's all done and dusted?

But that suggestion of Gengulphus's about asking for a DVD of the party is a very good one.  After all I am not so bothered if the party is all over and I only get to watch it; in fact, the DVD might well catch the livelier moments.

Only trouble is, I bet I'd get a question a day or two later along the lines of did you see what Jack and Jill were getting up to on the hill and how about that hilarious shot of Aunty Florence dribbling champagne down her chin?

Sometimes life is not a simple matter of only making those choices that you'd most like; more's the pity.

And yes, Betty, I remember that Lively Lads episode very well and how, at the end of the whole day of dodging situations that could have revealed the results, the match was rained off!

Shame they don't make comedy programmes like those anymore. 

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Ah.........thought I'd better explain, in view of my other posts on the topic of Wimbledon, that OH fell on his sword so that I could watch the final today!

Well, not on his sword perhaps but he did genuinely hurt his back the last time he played ping pong so we couldn't go to the party after all.

But, that wasn't the last dodge:  some people rang to say they were coming (yes, the camping car people, of which I had written so much) today but I said that we wouldn't be here today as we were going to a party and could they come tomorrow instead?[;-)]

That's what having a great OH is all about:  they'd put their backs out practically to order![:D]

I really couldn't wish for more!

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[quote user="sweet 17"]But that suggestion of Gengulphus's about asking for a DVD of the party is a very good one.  After all I am not so bothered if the party is all over and I only get to watch it; in fact, the DVD might well catch the livelier moments.[/quote]

Oh, but I wasn't for a moment suggesting that you should actually view the DVD.  I would not be that unkind. 

Your own experience of viewing people's wedding albums and holiday 'clips' will be sufficient to know what level of toe-curling, buttock-clenching tedium to expect.  And amateur film makers are perfectly incapable of holding the camera still, and cannot resist doing a 'zoom', again and again and again  -  to the last syllable of recorded boredom.

Ask for the DVD of the dreaded party, and hang it it up as a bird-scarer in your cherry tree (I cannot recommend them highly enough for this purpose). 

You can then say with perfect honesty that it gives you great pleasure every time you see it.

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Certainly it is, Wooly. 

I used to work for a consultant psychiatrist and during the GP seminars that he chaired (when doctors discussed puzzling cases), he always maintained that the back was a s*x**l  *rg*n.

(I put the stars in this time, to save the forum software the bother.)

Angela

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[quote user="woolybanana"]Sweets, I was wondering if a chap's bad back is the equivalent of a girl's headache?[/quote]

I don't know about that, Wools, but I can confirm that whilst I do suffer from backache now and again, I NEVER get headaches![:)]

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