Tuesday, October 06, 2009

Give it to me straight, with a tequila chaser

Look who's back on the scene. Oh Brutal Truth, how I've missed you and your badass ways. Ummm...speaking of badass, I need some advice.
Like everyone from soccer moms and stalkers to tweens and twinks, I have been sucked into Facebook. I update my status, talk smack to my friends and post unflattering pictures of frienemies. The problem is Facebook has been nothing but trouble for me. Specifically, I recently posted pictures of a party that I attended. This produced a number of hilarious comments from the other attendees. Everything seemed great until I got a nastigram from my brother. He was pissed that he was not invited to said party and felt "hurt" to learn about it via FB. He was also angry that a lot of the attendees, including the hosts, were his FB friends. His suggested solution is that I tell him about all of the parties going forward so he can make sure to come.
I feel awkward about this whole thing. I mean: can guests invite guests?
 
ACL:  No! Guests cannot invite guests! I think I see now why your bro wasn’t on the list originally. Ok, that’s harsh….but basically your hands were tied with this one. If it was your party and you didn’t invite him, that woud be one thing (I mean, that’s just rude). But in this case, you didn’t control the guest list, nor should you have invited other guests UNLESS the invite
specifically said “feel free to bring your freeloading friends or relatives”. I can see how your brother would feel hurt, but in this case, his anger is misdirected.  Tell him to take it up with the party-thrower and to leave you out of it. 

VF:  Uhhhh, well, is this really an etiquette question?  I mean, Miss Manners and her Victorian shag gots that turf covered.  Here's the thing -- unless your brother is 7, it's bullshit that he thinks it's your responsibility to invite him everywhere.  But then again, you said "his solution," which implies some sort of conversation went down between the two of you that might've gone something like this:
Him:  My feelings are hurt.
You:   [placating]  Well, I'm sorry -- what can I do about it?
Him:  You could invite me to the parties you go to.
You:  [wince]
If that's the case then what I really have to say is -- quit enabling.  It's not your responsibility to fix your brother's issues, nor can you.  I'd probably just leave him hanging next time he complains... you know, let him try that lovely bit of awkward on for size.  Eventually he'll get it.   (But it takes a really, really long time.  I hope you're patient.)

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