is it just me?

First, I would like to go on record saying how much I hate when people post fake letters as their facebook status. You know what I'm talking about - "Dear Rain, please stay away until after 7pm. Bobby has his cookout tonight! Love, Mary Ann". Ugh. I find them annoying. But this one from today really took the cake:

"dear gas, please stop costing so much. I am trying to save money and I need to go places. thanks, l"

Oh for pete's sake. Are you really having a fake conversation with GAS? About why it is so expensive? Honestly. Just say "I wish gas were cheaper!" Skip the cuteness. You're too old for that shit.

with this ring, I thee wed

A guy I work with got engaged a while ago. This is no big deal, except for I have known this guy for ten years, and I have never known him to have a girlfriend. And he went to graduate school here and no one remembers him having a girlfriend then, either. And he is in his mid 40s. So, when he told me he had a girlfriend, about a year ago now, I was kind of shocked. When I met her and she was nice and normal, I was more shocked. And when he told me, a mere 8 months later, that they were engaged, well...you get the idea. Lots of people thought he preferred to date men and didn't want to tell anyone. And we were SURE he would never actually get married to a real, live woman.

So, after the engagement, either because I seem like someone who is really super interested in weddings (not likely) or because he really didn't have anyone to talk to who cared (very likely), he talked to me about his wedding ALL THE TIME. Seriously, I could start a conversation about the weather, lazy graduate students, Libya or anything else and in less than five minutes we'd be talking about cakes and band and centerpieces and overbearing mothers in law. Fortunately, it was a short engagement. By the time he told me in February he already had a date and a venue for his May wedding, so I only had to endure four months of the conversations. And at least I would get a free dinner and (maybe) fun party out of the deal.

Not so fast. Despite wanting to tell me about shopping for his suit and choosing rings, apparently he did not want to actually INVITE me to the wedding. I realized this when several weeks before the wedding I had seen no invite. So, I figured I would let it go, but I would make it clear that I didn't really want to hear any more details of this fabulous wedding I would not attend. He came into my office and said "How's it going?" I said "Good - you? Getting ready for the end of the semester?" To which he replied, "Well, yeah, and you know - WEDDING PLANNING." So I nicely asked if he had sent invites and then I think he realized (after 3.5 months) that maybe it isn't so nice to discuss your wedding ad nauseum and not invite someone and he slinked off.

Two days later, he calls me into his office. From his backpack he withdraws what is clearly a wedding invitation. A last minute, b-list, wedding invitation with no actual address and crooked letters. AMAZING. So, we have a super awkward conversation, and I walk out. Did I guilt him into it? Should I feel bad? Or should he? Should I go or not? EEK. Now, this would be a bit of a quandary under any circumstances, but remember that I work in a parallel universe where no social norms apply, common courtesy and eye contact are TOTALLY optional, and general behavior defies explanation. So I was flummoxed. However, curiosity got the better of me and we went to the wedding.

It wasn't so great. In fact, it was boring. Too many cousins, and not the fun young cousins who drink too much and cause a fuss. A band not meant for dancing. Toasts full of inside jokes. Early departure by the bride and groom. Blah blah. But, he looked so happy. Because I think maybe he was starting to agree with the rest of the world that he might not get married. Especially not to a young, cute, funny, social, fit lawyer. But he did!

God I love a happy ending.