16 November 2006

Must see

The video up at Linkateria is especially hilarious. To me, at least. Go check and see if you think so, too.

*****
I went to a party tonight. One of THOSE parties. Ladies, you know what I mean. A party that is not really a party, but a shopping experience. They lure you in with the white wine and brie and then hit you with the overpriced crap.

Do men ever do this? Do they ever gather at some friend's house and eat pretzels and drink beer and shop for computer peripherals or car parts or whatever it is guys like these days? I didn't think so.

This was a jewelry party, a first for me. Throughout the ages I have been to my share of kitchenware parties. I (fortunately) skipped the candle party rage, pleading scent allergies. I have never been invited to a sex toy party, much to my chagrin, because I have always been too shy to go into a sex shop and ask about the merits of various vibrators.

But I really like the woman who was throwing the party and wanted to get to know her a little better, so I went, figuring I could spend maybe $50 and get out with a piece or two of cute jewelry.

But everything was WAAAAY overpriced. Silver earrings $49. The sales rep kept saying "This is really GOOD quality," but I kept wondering, "Then why is all the turquoise made of plastic?"

I was having a quandry about buying stuff that was a slight notch above street fair junk and having to spend $50 for it. My inner skinflint was NOT happy.

Then Heather showed up. She is the wife of a friend and the more I know her, the more I like her. She got her plate of snackies and chatted people up and then announced "I don't wear jewelry."

Gasp. How bold! How wonderful! A person who got a party invitation and assumed that she was being invited for the sake of having a party, not because she was a cash cow.

Her chutzpah emboldened me, too. I thought "Hey! I don't actually have to buy this overpriced crap for the sake of being polite!" Duh. It may seem stupid, but this thought had never occurred to me before. Suddenly I was free.

So I grabbed some more crackers and brie and socialized until I couldn't socialize anymore. It felt good. Thanks, Heather.

14 comments:

meno said...

I don't like it when my checkbook is invited to a party and i am just there to drive it to the party. I'd give you wine and not try and sell you stuff.

super des said...

I've been to kitchen-parties. I end up buying a pair of bamboo tongs for $5 then leave. I admit some of the stuff is useful, but I just don't have the cash.
And boyfriend has been to these with me, because he is the one that cooks.

Hooray for Heather!

claire said...

hey, good for you. i got suckered into the candle parties quite a few times and always had to buy some over-priced crap because i felt like if i didn't, i would look like the cheap cheese-eater who didn't help out my happy hostess.

i usually avoid those parties now.

Lynnea said...

I stopped going to those things because of the very fact that my pleasure level at eating the food offered me and enjoying the company was so marred by the fact that I didn't want to buy anything. I would go thinking I might want to buy something. But in the end it wouldn't be affordable or worth buying or useful for me. And then I would buy anyways because of the guilt and hate myself and the party and the person throwing the party. Total merry go round of blech.

Stephanie said...

Heather & I should go to parties together. The only ones where I buy anything are Tasteful Treasures, where speaking up and saying "I want ALL of this!" is more shocking than refusing to buy anything.

Anonymous said...

When we men get together over beer and pretzels we open up emotionally and have a good cry..
Or we pass gas and watch sports..

I imagine you and Heather won't be invited to any more jewelry parties, ha,ha..

Anonymous said...

Today I was invited to a free lunch at a local sushi place, and in return, I had to listen to a financial planning schpiel.

I sat in the back, ate my sushi, and when she asked if I wanted her business card to set up my *free consultation* I said "No thanks, I'm full."

Suzanne said...

Fortunately, I have never been to a party like this. A sex toy party would be fun, though. My friend went to one and she got me a hilarious wallet shaped like a vagina. If you are ever in LA, though, I think there is a store there called Babeland that sells sex toys and has very non-intimidating staff. We have 2 stores in NYC, and they are great. And I am oddly shy about that stuff too.

Lisa said...

Good for you. I HATE those things...

What's worse is hating them and having a good friend put you up to having a party...

Mignon said...

The parties. When you live in a development they come more often than the garbage collector. I've never been to one because I didn't want to go through the guilty feeling you had: "I can't afford this crap, but I have to buy something..." And honestly, I just don't enjoy the women enough to eschew the guilt for a healthy buzz.

Peevish said...

If a guy tried to hold a party like that for other guys, there would be violence and lawsuits.

Lady M said...

Brilliant. Cheers for Heather and you!

Marcia said...

One of my friends was just invited to a Spa Baby Shower that was not a baby shower - it was a party to sell crap. She was so not amused.

Anonymous said...

My husband swears he going to start a "Pampered Toolman" club so he and his buddies have an excuse to get together in each other's garages to try out the latest power tools.
I am too poor to buy over-priced candles, make-up, purses, jewelry, and kitchen gadgets from every friend who invites me so I make up lame excuses and don't go.

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