There are many reasons to dread a birthday
but I positively welcome the hustle and bustle of the preparation. I relish the arrival of people and the
possibilities of conversation. The
washing up can be done by a dishwasher and the tile floors are spick and span
with the passing of a hoover. Presents
are always a problem for me, not because of any reluctance on my part to accept
with open arms anything that anyone is prepared to give, but rather because I
know that people find it difficult to choose something that they think I might
like.
Buying a book is a hostage to fortune; my
skin is positively skittish when it comes to reacting with all but a selected
few fragrances; the gadgets I want are way beyond the normal price limit even
the nearest and dearest to me can afford; art is unthinkable when I have made
it clear that what I really want is a small, unobtrusive Van Eyck; flowers are
always acceptable but no one ever thinks them appropriate; I have my own tea
supplier and I abhor household good disguised as gifts.
There is always booze. Alcohol has been something of a forbidden
fruit to me for the course of the antibiotics, but I am going to get off the
wagon with a rather spectacular bottle of Cava which has a metallic base and a
rather flamboyant metal badge on the neck.
It was much more expensive than the price
that I pay for truly a decent bottle of Cava, but it still cost less than an
ordinary bottle of named Champagne. I
will have to discover if the quality of this fizzy liquid goes any deeper than
the de lux bottle! Perhaps I should keep
the bottle and fill it up with cheaper stuff and see if people still comment on
its subtlety!
I am not convinced that I am going to enjoy
it after spending more than eleven hours in school or perhaps, and this is much
more likely, it won’t even touch the sides!
Unfortunately I can’t get pissed as the next day, Tuesday, I teach six
periods rather than the five and a lunchtime duty and a two and a half hour
meeting of the previous day. But I might
have mentioned that before in passing.
Possibly.
This is shaping up to be the worst United
Nations Day that I will have ever celebrated in my life. But am I miserable?
Yes.
But won’t be when I get home.
Eventually.
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