Fucking birthdays.
They are an utterly arbitrary date that everyone expects you to make something special out of. And they're liability because you also have to remember everyone else's arbitrary date at least a couple of days beforehand so you can send a card which will get thrown away after a few days. Then on the day you have to phone them up and talk about something. On my birthday it means that I end up wasting my entire evening after work making small talk because everyone feels obligated to do it. I've started unplugging the phone so people assume that I am out celebrating and they can feel happy that they have at least tried to do their bit.
Problem is that it can be an entire week or two before I remember to plug it back in again.
Yes, I have just forgotten a close relative's birthday and my own one is coming up, just to remind myself that I am a year older.
They are an utterly arbitrary date that everyone expects you to make something special out of. And they're liability because you also have to remember everyone else's arbitrary date at least a couple of days beforehand so you can send a card which will get thrown away after a few days. Then on the day you have to phone them up and talk about something. On my birthday it means that I end up wasting my entire evening after work making small talk because everyone feels obligated to do it. I've started unplugging the phone so people assume that I am out celebrating and they can feel happy that they have at least tried to do their bit.
Problem is that it can be an entire week or two before I remember to plug it back in again.
Yes, I have just forgotten a close relative's birthday and my own one is coming up, just to remind myself that I am a year older.