Funding Other People's Entitlements...

  An interesting phrase that was borrowed from somewhere...

Indeed.

Nobody likes to do that.

But does it make one a hypocrite who utters that phrase, yet expects the very same from others?

It reminds me of a near-mistake that I recently made in regards to an event that I got (temporarily)  roped into co-chairing with someone that I neither know nor care to know.  This person had some serious control issues and just would not stay in her own lane, no matter how many times I had to remind her. She decided that she should be in charge of all of the planning, even though she admitted that she didn't have the first clue about where to start and had very little money to invest in this affair. A good combination.
 For disaster.

 Her lack of funds did not deter her. She made elaborate plans, each bigger than the last. She had an agenda to impress only she assumed that I would just quietly go along with whatever she said and open my purse to accommodate those plans that were made without consulting me first.

Ummm... NO.

Why should I fund other people's entitlements?

I'm old school and know what a hard day's work really is as well as appreciating the value of a dollar. Coming from humble beginnings, I'm all about giving to others as you never really understand what it's like to literally have nothing unless you've been there yourself, however, I'm too street smart to be manipulated into contributing to something in which I had no meaningful input, so I wished her well as I disengaged myself from the situation. She was clearly trying using this event to realize her own unfulfilled girlhood dreams at other people's expense and I didn't feel that it was my place to help to foot the bill to make her emotionally whole again.

Through the grapevine, I hear that the event was cancelled as she said that she couldn't do it by herself. Of course not... Not without someone else 'funding other people's entitlements'.

;)

Life happens when you're planning other things...

 Out of the blue, my sweet thing asked me if I had given any thought to just getting married quietly this fall and taking a really awesome honeymoon rather than wait until next year to have a formal wedding.

 Honestly, I have given the concept much thought. The quiet part, with no timeline attached.

After a recent turn of events, it made me realize how ridiculous it truly is to shell out large sums to entertain and impress people that you never see for one evening that will ultimately fade to gray in their memories, like the rest of the gatherings that they've attended throughout the years. It seems almost obscene and wasteful. There are a million and one other things that we could do with what a wedding would cost, selfish things that would improve our quality of comfort and aesthetics that would better stand the test of time than an afternoon and evening spent in an overpriced, uncomfortable dress that I will wear only once, sharing an intimate moment with a room full of mostly strangers to witness, who then I must then feed and make nice to at my own expense.

 Justice of the peace it is and I'm not at all disappointed by that. It means that we will be able to experience more and not start our life together financially drained, because it's not only about that one day, but about the rest of our life together.
<3