Birthdays...a thing of the past?

(Commence the celebration of the unbirthday!)

I love birthdays.

It's true. Just like when I was a kid I still look forward to this day as it approaches every year.

Only now I don't bring cupcakes to share with the class - though I bet my co-workers wouldn't mind so much if I did. But no singing please, that I can do without.

I also despise the happy birthday songs they sing to you in restaurants. Sure you get free dessert, but it's so not worth the public attention and humiliation. And usually the songs are way lame. Trust me, I used to work at Chi Chi's, which had the lamest birthday song ever. But the fried ice cream was pretty damn good.

Okay, so not the point.

Blast, I'm way off topic now.

Oh, birthdays, right.

I like birthdays. And not just my own. In fact, I think I might like to celebrate other people's birthdays even more than my own. It's the gift giving that gets me...I love giving people presents.

Now, I didn't say I loved buying them, but it's fun to give someone something they wanted, needed, or just something pretty that they like. It's all about putting a smile on someones face.

What can I say, I'm a giver.

The best part about a birthday is that it's the one time a year where you get to celebrate the individual. One day where it's all about them.

Most other celebrations are about family, friends, religion, a couple. But birthdays are just about you.

But the older I get the more I'm realizing how other people don't really feel the same way I do about this annual event.

If they did, I wouldn't be traveling for work for the third consecutive year on this oh-so-special day.

Three years in a row. Are you freaking kidding me?

Actually, I wasn't all that surprised. When I found out about it, I laughed right out loud - in the middle of a meeting - with no good explanation per usual.

Maybe this is the universe trying to tell me to give up on the birthday. After all, what's so special about them now? We're just getting closer to things not working the way they should, right?

I guess after 21 it doesn't really matter anyhow. The only perk to 25 is the onset of the quarter-life crisis and the nervous breakdown that's bound to ensue.

Oh and my car insurance is going down. But I got that call in March so how much of a birthday surprise is that, really?

Well, the universe can suck it, because now I'm just going to spoil the crap out of my friends and family for their birthdays since I can't even enjoy my own.

Take that, bastard!

-A