My sweet neighbor and I were talking a few weeks ago about the changes in the neighborhood. There seemed to be a lot of
good things going on: The Lieutenant across the street returned safely from Afghanistan and he and his wife have a new baby; a cute young couple moved in and
they are expecting; another new couple with a schnauzer ("Lucy! Lucy!") bought the house in the back, another neighbor is getting ready for a well-deserved retirement. Lots of good things. It's not a neighborhood where there is a real neighborhood feel, if you know what I mean. People are
pleasant to each other but there isn't a whole lot of intra-neighborhood visiting. So Andrea and I thought it might be nice to try to do something about that. We scheduled an
Event. We sent out flyers to the people that we know or would like to know. (We didn't send a flyer to the Nonspeakers; they wouldn't add much to any gathering.) If everyone we invited came, we'd have 26 adults. And a few kids. The flyer said something like "bring an appetizer or a dessert and join us for a neighborhood celebration" and listed some of the good things. An email and a telephone number were given for reply.
We are now at Event Minus Four and precisely
four of the twenty-six have had the courtesy to reply. Fortunately they are all coming and bringing cheese and brownies, even. But what the heck is wrong with the other twenty-two? Have they never planned a gathering and needed to know how many chairs to set out? The propensity to ignore a r.s.v.p. is widespread. And today I'm really,
I mean really, feeling it. Moo!
Oh, and guess who I heard from the other day? Out of the blue? The school where I used to be employed. The school where I worked faithfully for sixteen years before being told my services were no longer needed.
That one.
A piece of mail from the Development Office. They thought I might want to follow the school on Facebook (no, thank you) or Linked In (don't even use it). They thought I might want to come and visit (again, no).
And they thought I might want to contribute to the Annual Fund or perhaps leave a Legacy Gift in my will. How very, very crass; how unspeakably insensitive.
Comments
As far as RSVPs, don't get me started!
RSVPs? I used to follow some conversation threads on a food-centric site www.chow.com. Lots of food stuff, but also lots of posts discussing things like guest/host etiquette, including the sad state of the RSVP. The pet peeves ranged for not getting a reply, but then showing up anyway, to showing up with tag-a-longs (uninvited guests), to holding out to see which better offer turns up, to - well you get the idea. The bottom line is that manners are not taught. Bad parenting, I say. And inconsiderate behavior.
http://funny.fluky.org/pages/mad_cow_disease.htm
I think that may help lighten your mind. Ignore the insensitive, the rude and just have fun!
Hugs,
Karla
Moo on, Nancy! I'm right there with ya!
Yes, the fact of lack of what used to be common courtesy is also unpleasantly astonishing these days. Moo about this, too. My mother taught me how to act and react but perhaps not everyone got those lessons. Will you leave notes on those 22 doors to ask for a phone RSVP?
I hope the neighborhood party is fun and I applaud the idea you and Andrea had!
Hugs!
It is sad, but I have stopped making gifts (read knitted items or quilts here) for family members because it is obvious that they have broken hands when it comes to thank you note. There are only a couple of them that receive items.
Moo on.
Hope you had a better turn out at your neighborhood event. I doubt we could get the neighbors together... most of them don't even come to the "required" homeowners meetings.
Moo