I may be in the minority, but I’ve never been a fan of birthdays.
I don’t want to come off as some prude who doesn’t enjoy having fun.
I think birthdays can serve a good purpose.
Just not how they are currently portrayed. On social media, they are just another way to gain ?attention and validation. And while I think people should celebrate themselves, Facebook isn’t the way to do it.
Birthdays just never made much sense to me. Celebrating the fact that I was born is nice, but I think there are more important things worth ?celebrating.
The real prize should go to my mother, who had to haul me around for nine months.
Sure, when I was younger I enjoyed ?receiving presents.
Children love being showered with new Pokémon cards and shoving sugar-filled cake down their throats. Back then, birthdays were an excuse to stay up late with my friends and terrorize everyone in my house for a night. Slowly, as I got older, birthdays just seemed a little forced.
It felt weird having all of the attention focused on myself when I really didn’t do anything.
Now, there are few things that annoy me more than people who bring attention to their own birthdays.
Logging onto Twitter or Facebook and seeing something along the lines of “OMG it’s my Birthday! Everyone has to be nice to me!” is just too much.
We all know that person who feels they have the Survivor Immunity Idol on their birthday.
They think anything they want they have to get.
Well, it doesn’t exactly work that way.
People who count down the days until their own birthday fall in this category as well.
It comes off as ?attention-seeking.
Outside of turning 16, 18 and 21, birthdays honestly don’t have much meaning.
Unless you’re planning on running for president as soon as you turn 35.
I’ll concede that there are some traditional events that should happen when you turn 18 and 21.
I turned 21 last year in Bloomington and went bar hopping with a large group of friends.
It was a fantastic time but not because it was my birthday.
I attempted to make the day as little about me as possible.
It was a good time because we were all together again for the first time in a few years.
This is why I think birthdays can serve an important purpose.
They can bring people together for a good time, even if it’s a little ?superficial.
Birthdays are more productive if they focus on a group of people rather than on one individual, which is the opposite of how most people view birthdays currently.
Give it a try for yourself.
You just might like it better that way.
luburch@indiana.edu
