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Bikram Vohra
JournalismPakistan.com
May 15, 2014
You know of many things that are dead or dying. Like honor. And promise. Not to forget fairness and all those other silly little things that made life tolerable. Now, it is all about winning and clambering on top of the social pinnacle and being someone and if it requires deceit and conceit, so what, small price to pay.
And why this heavy stuff. Someone I know who is not very important and doesn’t have a garden or car as big as her heart had a party and invited 55 people. She then spent days calling for confirmations and only received one RSVP. One…the rest all promised to come but never sent it in writing. The day before the party she called 20 odd couples to remind them of her party. Now, it was either the despair that showed through or people have become so cruel and indifferent to mere good manners but still there were only these feeble reassurances that they would make it, hope nothing comes up, look forward to it, so insincere.
Since the meal was catered she was stressed but not so much as by the possibility that there would not be a quorum.
The next morning the regrets began. Like mean hailstones peppering her confidence. Have to make it to the airport. Husband’s got a bad cold. Have to travel. So sorry, so sorry so very sorry, have a great evening.
Finally, 16 people showed up. The ones who had actually sent the RSVP now sent flowers to regret their last minute inability to attend. Of the 16, six could not stay for dinner because of other arrangements and left after a quick first round, desperate to get to places that count with people that count so they count.
I was thinking, is it so tough to say, no, thank you, you are not important enough, we cannot come, we’d rather be seen at important people’s parties even they treat us shabbily and we are faceless but at least we were there.
Why leave the hosts hanging in suspense. If you don’t want to come have the bloody good manners to say so.
Is it so tough?
(The writer is a Senior Editorial Advisor of Khaleej Times and the paper’s former Editor. He has also been the Editor of Gulf News, Gulf Today, Emirates Today and Bahrain Tribune)
If my call is so important to them, why don’t they answer it for 22 minutes?
How come when I want to, but something specific online is the only item out of stock.
When I get into a queue or lane going fast, the moment I get in, it becomes the slowest and refuses to budge.
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