18 June 2011

Justice, Sweet Justice

Do you remember the party I mentioned the other day?
The primary reason nobody responded (I found out later) was because of the annual paintball tournament put on by the church. I had completely forgotten it was this weekend until I'd already sent out invitations to my party.
Oh well, I thought. Even if they come late, they can still come.
So I changed the information in the Facebook event (and made it known to those who aren't on Facebook) to make it clear that if you had to come late, it would be perfectly all right.
Still no one responded, except the youth pastor heading up the paintball event. He and his wife would most definitely be there, he said, but they would be a bit late.
While I appreciated that, it frustrated me quite a bit to know that the youth pastor was willing to take the time to attend, but no one else was. They were going on the same paintball excursion; they would be arriving home on the same bus; for the most part they all live within the same town; yet the youth pastor was willing to come and they weren't.
They didn't say they weren't willing, of course. Those who I asked point-blank said something along the lines of 'I'm so sorry, I really wanted to come but I can't because paintball day is a big tradition for us so yeah...'
No, you don't really want to come. You aren't sorry at all. If you were, you'd come out for at least the second half of the party.
So I simmered, although the sudden availability of two close friends who had previously been unable to come eased the pain a little.
But now, today -- paintball day and party day -- it's raining, twelve degrees (Celsius), windy, and muddy. Less than an hour ago, paintball day was officially canceled.
And all those who thought paintball was more important than one they call their friend (and who even went so far as to lie to that friend) will now spend their afternoon sitting at home refreshing Facebook and/or mindlessly watching crap on YouTube while my real friends and I laugh together and enjoy steak and crisps in my house.
Sweet, sweet justice.

3 comments:

Brittney said...

Maybe you shouldn't take it so personally that they couldn't /didn't want to come...it might not have had anything to do with how they feel about you...

Sarah-Kate said...

I know; that's what I keep telling myself, but it still hurts because they totally could have come for at least part of it. If the roles were reversed I would have come to their party even if paintball was a tradition for me and I would have had to be a little late (or I may very well have given up the paintball altogether).
I guess I'm one of those dinosaurs who still thinks people are more important than spending five hours of my life running around shooting chunks of paint at strangers.

Brittney said...

I'm not sure that it's really a fair assumption that paintballing is "more important" then spending time with you, though. They just had to choose between two activities. It was probably nothing personal.

And, really, just because they COULD have come doesn't mean they SHOULD. I mean, paintballing is a pretty rigorous activity. Would you rather have a few people who are excited to be there and are ready to have fun at your party, or a bunch of exhausted people who don't want to be there but are afraid you'd be mad at them for saying no? I mean, it's your call, I guess, but I kind of think the second would bring down the mood...