Them: "So you wanna' hang out?"
k: (holding receiver and looking at me): "What time can we feed r~ and have her ready?"
Me: "Gimme 10"
k: "We'll be there in 15."
So that's the amount of planning we do when someone calls us. What's the word am looking for? It's not "people's person" -- that's someone people want to spend time with not someone who wants to spend time with people almost always...that's the word that describes us.
I have noticed some folks tend to keep some occasions private: anniversaries, birthdays and so on. They do cool, romantic things, fly to exotic places and come back to share awesome pictures with us. Some couples stay home and take it easy and just celebrate quietly. We, on the other hand, strongly believe in the "the more the merrier" cliche'. if k or I can squeeze in 2 additional people to the party, we would do so even if we had to spend 30 minutes convincing them that our home was a really hep hangout place and we would ensure that they would stay entertained the entire duration of their stay.
So given that, we (I should probably start speaking in the singular; k can say what he thinks in his expired blog if he wants to) or I am constantly surprised when people chose to opt out. No, am not talking about you or you in particular. This is sort of a sum total of my observations based on my 10 year stay in Lex. So anyway, why do people say no when you call them to spend time with you? Let's analyze:
- They are booked for that time.
- They do not belong to the "Oh...we are one big set of friends" camp.
- They would rather go to the dentist (or as P~ would put it, "They don't like you, don't you get it? Duh!")
- They don't like your facebook updates.
I suspect though that we are entering a time where we are so restless, constantly multi-tasking that the days of leisurely banter and "time pass" are behind us. We catch up online and are so caught up in our lives that we forget to leave some time out for wasting. Oh no, not to say I have mastered the art of zen living but am just throwing this out there and reaching random conclusions (because if you can't reach random conclusions on your blog, where can you?)
You know how in School, there's always this girl pleading with another girl to come...somewhere to do something, "Vaaayen! Nee vaaayen!" I suppose I am that girl now. I often wonder why I prefer to have a gathering whenever possible. Do I like the sound of conversation? Do I like the idea that I have a whole bunch of friends around me and that feels good? Am I bored too hang out with just k and to be fair to k, is he bored to hang out with just me and therefore we feel the need to invite 6 other people to dissipate it? Of course we have r~ now and she keeps us more occupied than 10 people can but even now, I prefer a gang to alone time. As one of my friends put it tongue-in-cheek, "As RS would say -- Let's get together and have some fun!"
Yes, RS would say that. And I guess that's just in my genes. Gotta remember to ask mom and dad if they were like that (Based on what I know, that is true) too.
Although sometimes, I think I go out of my way to spend time with people leading to situations such as:
"Hey, am going to get my eyebrows waxed, do you want to come along and share the joy of beauty?"
"Hey, taking r~ to the doc, wanna call it a play date and also grab a coffee with a screaming kid at Starbucks?"
I have always fantasized about living in the same town with the perfect set of people to hang out with. The kind of people who jump at the opportunity to make pots and paint them with you for example. Or eat at that tacky Indian restaurant that served GulabJamoons along with the plastic wrappers, warmed to perfection that other day. Or watch that Hindi movie that has the horrendous reviews just for the heck of it. Or waste a quality 60 minutes in your company.
Now, wouldn't that be something?
8 comments:
As one of my friends put it tongue-in-cheek, "As RS would say -- Let's get together and have some fun!"
--Who is that? :)
Haha! Really enjoyed the post!! :--)
this post reminds me of "Friends"... they do that for one other.. perfect gang mastered in art of Quality waste-of-time...seeing how the world is getting filled with obsessive compulsive workaholic people, quality waste-of-time has become a rare quality possessed by a lucky few.
Good post! Do appreciate that quality in both you and K, where you reach out to people and have them over!
LOL! :)_ loved this post of urs,RS...
and u brave woman....starbucks with screaming kid? i mean , seriously?
:) Sounds like me.
Offering to help in apartment moving, even after they hired a mover is when i realized i had reached heights.
PB -- Now, who would that be...hmm? :)
SK, PH -- Thanks :)
MM -- True...I so miss FRIENDS!
IBH -- Nah. I might do Starbucks with screaming mom and happy kid not the other way around :p
TJ -- :)
Well, I opt-out of get togethers because I hate people. It's nothing personal.
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