Birthdays

Birthdays… everyone’s got one, but how a person feels about their birthday can vary.

My birthday was yesterday. As someone who is not 100% comfortable with the idea of getting older – who accepts it as an inevitability, but doesn’t look forward to it – turning 27 isn’t much cause for celebration.

On Saturday, I went out to breakfast, took in a matinee of Shazam! with my family, then went to work for a closing shift. On my actual birthday, I had to work 10-6:30, so I picked up my free latte from Starbucks on my way in, then spent the entirety of my day at my job. Came home and ate a delicious dinner with my parents, opened a couple of gifts, then spent the remainder of the night watching high-speed police chase videos on Youtube, as one does.

Not your standard birthday, but totally fine for me. I mean, 27 isn’t a milestone, so obviously there wasn’t going to be some big blowout party, which I wouldn’t have wanted anyway. For my sweet 16, my sister took me to pet cows. For my 21st, I went to Applebees with some college friends and had a margarita. And in each case, I had a great time.

Point is, I’m not a birthday person – but that’s just when it comes to my own. If my friends and loved ones choose to celebrate their birthdays in a bigger fashion, I will happily participate. I love buying birthday gifts for people and celebrating their presence in my life.

Still, the way some people revere birthdays is a mystery to me – not that I have anything against the way people choose to celebrate. You do you, folks. But in some cases, I just don’t understand it.

I’ve heard coworkers complain about being scheduled to work on their birthday, especially since my line of work has a lot of “blackout” periods where you aren’t permitted to ask for time off. But if your birthday is smack in the middle of the week, like… what do you expect?

I also recently saw someone post on facebook about celebrating the last night of their birthday week. Why would you need an entire week?

I also fail to understand how people want to be treated like royalty just because it’s their birthday. Does anyone actually enjoy being sung to in restaurants by the wait staff, with everyone else in the room staring at you? Like, I only played the “it’s my birthday” card to get out of having to wash the dishes after dinner last night.

Thus, I am curious to know how others feel about birthdays. Are you a “go out to a nice dinner and catch a movie” type of person, or a “wild party, and celebrate all week” kind of person?