2007-03-31
what do you think of this?
|Alright, I think most of you know I have four sisters and a brother. I think everyone will agree that when you grow up with siblings you learn when their birthdays are and by the time you are 10 years old you don't need a reminder.
For ever, for as long as I can remember, Claire has called to remind me of a familial birthday. This annoys me to no end. I think I can go so far as to say this is the most annoying trait Claire has, among many others. When I was in my early 20s I explained to Claire why I found this annoying and asked her not to call me on family birthdays. She agreed to my face but continues to call me.
When I was telling Claire why I didn't want her to call me I felt like Colonel Jessep in A Few Good Men at the end when Kaffee is questioning him about what he just said.
Kaffee: "You said, 'He was in danger'. I said, 'Grave danger'. You said--Jessep: "Yes, I recall what--"
Kaffee: "I can have the Court Reporter read back your--"
Jessep: "I know what I said. I don't need it read back to me like I'm a damn--.
This is where I felt like Jessep. He is exercising restrained rage when he said "know" and the word is drawn out and kind of breathy. That's what I felt I was saying to Claire, "I KNOW when everyone's birthday is."
I spent quite a bit of time trying to explain to her how annoying I find this, but I think it just spurs her on. She once told Kim she feels it is her duty to call and remind the family of a birthday! Kim told her right then and there that everyone in the family hates that (perhaps with the exception of our parents). It made no difference.
So fast forward to last Thursday (March 29): It's my brother Jack's 47th birthday. Whenever a sibling's birthday arrives it's as if it's my own birthday. I know the date March 29 means Jack's birthday. I know it just like I know February 1 is my own birthday. Now I have amended that date to also mean I do NOT answer the phone when Claire calls with her damn reminder.
In the past I used to listen to the message, just in case she was going to throw in some important information at the end like, "by the way, Mom had a heart attack and is in hospital." This year was the first year I decided if Mom is, indeed, in the hospital I'll find out about it later in the day from someone else. So I immediately deleted her message without listening to it and that felt good.
Kim and Kate both mistakenly took the call from Claire and they were both pissed off to no end. Both of them were at work and both of them thought something happened to our mom who has Alzheimer's. That was the only reason they answered the call from Claire. So imagine how angry they were to hear Claire chirp in her self-important tone, "Don't forget! Today is Jack's birthday!"
Claire is 50. This dog ain't gonna learn any new tricks. I still find it supremely annoying and irritating. I don't think this is normal.
Is this normal?
Do any of you have a 50-something sibling who calls to remind you of birthdays? All three of us (me, Kim and Kate) made the comment to each other that the next birthday -- our mom's -- is May 31st. So that's the next time we need to avoid Claire's call. Isn't that crazy?
2007-03-31 at 8:53 a.m.
