Hatin’ On Fun
I hate parties.
No, no, not the kind of parties where your friends come over and you just stand around laughing about nothing and eating and drinking delicious things. Those kind of parties I love. I also like theme parties. So, just pointing out that I am not a complete misanthrope who also loathes fun.
I hate those parties where your “friends” invite you over and then want you to BUY things. I cannot think of a word strong enough to express the distaste I feel for these “parties” which are not parties at all, but rather torture sessions where I feel guilted into buying heinously overprice items which I didn’t want in the first place.
I like to shop alone, and I like to buy what I want, for the price I want, when I want it. Also, I want my buying to concern only me; I don’t want to drag friendships into it.
Does anyone really like these parties? Do some people really not feel the pressure to buy, but instead just enjoy going and hanging out?
Also, I will never want to host a party. And I pray no friends will ever try to guilt me into hosting one. Because then we won’t be friends anymore.
Right with you. Gina has experienced a fair amount of pain as a result of parties like this. She has a pretty strict “no” policy now that keeps things simpler.
I hate them too. If it’s a friend who’s presenting the product (whether it’s candles, kitchen gear, make up, etc) it would make more sense for me to just give them a $20 bill if I wanted to support them instead of spending $80 on lame product so they can get $20 in commission.
Yeah, there’s nothing worse than exploiting friendship for material gain. I don’t go to those parties, either.
ditto! so far, I’ve been lucky enough to avoid them. Phew!
Oh, I hate these too, and I don’t go if I’m not interested. I like longaberger but don’t want to make my friends think they have to buy so I don’t have parties. I usually just order the stuff I want.
Well, I do not call these parties … since they are not parties. They are opportunities for someone to make money off of me. So I refuse to go to them and politely tell the hostess that I don’t go to such “parties.” If the friendship is real it will withstand my polite refusal. Can you tell I detest them too? :o)
I’m so in the minority here. I actually like the “parties” (though that is not the right term) I particularly like them when they make food (read: pampered chef) and I get to see things I’m might not normally see (or know I want!) lol
I think I would enjoy the parties more if I has a little disposable income. Being that I don’t, I usually feel torn between feeding my family and hurting my friends feelings. There will come a time when I have a little more dinuchies to spend in which case I think those parties would be be just another excuse to have fun with the girls and eat stuff. All in favor of that.
I don’t like them. If I wanted something, I’d just go buy it. Fortunately, I’m never invited.
These tupperware parties, as they are typically referred to in the academic psychology community, are one of the most effective sales tool in existence. It plays on two major principles, the social proof principle and the normative social influence effect. By having a group of (presumably) similar individuals in a room in which the social script revolves around a trusted figure dolilng out products is a recipe for unneeded spending, and is the reason such companies as tupperware, avon, cutco, etc have become billion dollar businesses.
so yes janssen, loathe these “parties” as they are intentionally designed to prey on the socially active.
i miss being in school
I just got a phone call from a “long lost acquaintance.” It seemed innocent at first, but then it came up. “I’m running my own business now. I’m a Mary Kay independent consultant” ….Dun, Dun, Dun, Dun.
Long story short, I told her I was not willing to be one of her required 30 free makeovers. We did set up a play date for our girls for this morning, and guess what??? She didn’t show up and will not answer my calls. Pretty typical. It’s not the first ruined friendship over a “party” like this. Oh well, they were pretty distant friends anyway.
Good to hear from you,
Cousin Amy