The Dinner Party

I decided to have a dinner party for a bunch of girls I know. They are Arabs by the way. About 8 or 10 of them. They are all from various Arabic countries. So mom and I cooked and slaved over various foods. We eat mostly Lebanese / Palestinian food. Quite tasty I might add. From appetizers to desserts. I had the whole thing planned and confirmed it many times with the girls of the date and place. It was all set with a huge table that is made to feed 20! I like to spoil my guests with delicious food.

One girl was the tough one and at the time she was engaged. All she did was blab about her engagement and the dresses and her shopping non stop. It was normal. It was the “spotlight” conversation you know between girls. Another girl was Egyptian and didn’t know a lot of the food we ate and she was almost disgusted by how we can eat “kibbi neyeh” (raw beef appetizer dish). The other girls don’t like to eat much and were watching their diet.

Another girl and her two sisters were to come. But as Arabs, they decided they had to go home first. The dinner was 6, and they decided to go home at 5:30 after school first to get ready. Their classes were done in the morning, but they stayed at the university sitting around talking to guys and chatting. They called around 6:30 saying they can’t come because it is too late to get them selves ready and at my house. So they bailed out.

The table was filled with food. It was filled with food after we were done eating as well. I mean, no one has touched the food.

After we finished dinner, they decided to sit around and talk. Thirty minutes into the conversation, the girl who was engaged at the time said, let’s go to the mall. I really want to see that dress. Since I live 8 min walking from the mall, they all decided to just get up and leave to go shopping at 7:45 pm. (mall closes at 9:30 pm)

The dinner party was over.

This was a story that happened to me when I was 20. After that, I quit having dinner parties because why should I spend the time and effort for people who won’t appreciate it?

The reason I wrote this post and remembered this event because my friend who lives in another city had a party planned out for today. She even called me to tell me the menu she was cooking and making it all elegant and gourmet like. So she was slaving in the kitchen cooking gourmet food all by her self for her friends from work. They are not Arabs by the way. (So I am not trying to stereotype a group of people.) Her girl gathering at her house was supposed to be at 8:00 pm. She calls me at 7:30 pm with a low voice almost crying and saying, “they all bailed out. They called, one after the other saying they won’t come. Just my luck after all these hours cooking.”

I told her, “no big deal, now you have lots of food for the weekend.”

Later, around 8:15 pm she calls again. (45 minutes ago).

She said, “I am on the highway going over to the girl’s place because they couldn’t get a ride to my place, because the girl who was supposed to drive them bailed. So I am driving to their place and bringing food with me. However, I barely can do anything fun, I had to find quarters in the house that mom has stashed to just fill up gas. I have no money.”

I said, “what?” Why you bringing them food? They cannot come to your place, you have no money to barely drive around to work, and you bringing them food? I just don’t understand you at all!”

She tried to say something more witty to refute my point and said, “but I want to go out and have fun. It’s Friday. I want to do something fun!”

I said, “I don’t understand you, how can you have fun this way when you are the one doing all the work!”

She said, “you just don’t understand me. You really don’t!”

I said, “nop, I can’t!”

She said, “well I gotta go. I am driving!”

And we ended it there and thought of what people in this life would do just to have “fun!” At what cost does it take for a person to have “fun!”

Shoot me now! I am sick of the way people act now a days.. I need some sleep. Or just a vacation from people!

Random Thoughts, They said what?