Talk About UNGRATEFUL People

Yes, I'm well aware of the fact that my last few posts have been a little "less than upbeat" and by golly, I'm going to continue on in the same fashion!

Earlier today, when I was listening to some children tell me what they thought a book we're about to start will be about, I went through that thing when your mind picks up on something and then it makes you think of something else, then that thought brings something else to mind, and you think about that, and then....well, you know what I mean.

Anyway, all these thoughts went back to a time when I taught at a different school, probably around the 1994-1995 time range. I wish I could remember exactly when, but sometimes the mind just doesn't want to cooperate, if you know what I mean.

One of the teachers was about to get married. Attending the wedding and/or reception was pretty much a necessity. Since I had to work with this woman, and she was in a position to make at least part of my day difficult, I knew that I better come up with a nice gift and show up, even though it was a summer wedding. Off I went to a local store that had a registry service and checked to see if she had registered there.

YES!! This was going to be easier than I thought! Until I looked at the things she'd registered for. Oh man, everything was so expensive. There had been just a few things that were reasonably priced, but they had already been purchased. At least 90% of the things on her list were high dollar items. I ended up getting her something that she wanted (but I didn't care for at all, but that doesn't even enter into the equation because it was a gift!) , and even had it gift wrapped while I was there. Of course I had spent WAY more than what I had planned on spending.

As it turned out, we had THREE things going on that hot summer Saturday, and the wedding/reception was the middle event. We ended up not making it to the wedding, but attended the reception. That was fine with me, because I wasn't too happy about going anyway, so cutting my time being involved was going to work out great. There were a BUNCH of people at the reception, and many gifts there too. I added mine to the pile, and off we went to enjoy ourselves. Yeah, right.

She and her husband and their families were friends with people that I didn't know, or didn't know well. We didn't sit with other people from the school, because they were all at some tables that had no empty seats, so we were sitting by ourselves until some other people came in that had no where else to sit. After "playing nice" for two hours or so, we'd definitely had ENOUGH, so we decided to leave. Besides, we had another much more casual event to attend, and needed to go home and change clothes. However, before leaving, I made sure to go up and talk to the bride, so there would be NO doubt in her mind that I was there.

About 5 weeks went by, and I was notified that I was being transferred to another school in the district. That was fine with me. Although I really liked the principal at that school, I wasn't too crazy about most of the staff members there. There were a couple that I really liked, and stayed in contact with after I left, but most of them I didn't miss in the least.

I knew that the bride and groom were going on a long honeymoon, so I didn't think too much about not getting a thank you note in that first month after the wedding. Then I was transferred, then school started, then things started to get crazy as usual. In October I had lunch with one of the teachers that I was close to from that school. I asked if she'd gotten a thank you note from the "bride" teacher and she said that she did. I told her that I didn't.

In December we had lunch again and she asked me if I'd ever gotten a thank you note. I told her I hadn't.

HOW UNGRATEFUL CAN YOU BE??????

I bought a gift that was more expensive than I wanted it to be.

Then I felt forced to go to a wedding reception that I didn't want to go to. (Which included wearing HOSE and a DRESS and HEELS and doing the HAIR thing, the MAKEUP thing, and the JEWELRY thing.)

Then she REFUSED to acknowledge the freaking gift that I bought for her.

She probably didn't even realize that she was not only making herself look bad, but also made her parents look bad. Surely she was raised better than that. HOW RUDE.

Did she decide that since she wouldn't need to see me again, she didn't need to waste her time, and postage on sending me a thank you note??

I don't know, but I still think it was LOUSY of her to do.

Am I really that old fashioned, thinking that wedding gifts (along with other major events) should be acknowledged with a thank you note????

Just how long does it take to write out a simple note???

What's the deal with the lack of manners these days?