To be honest, I get super uncomfortable when I see that stuff because they just look so desperate for attention. Well, to me it looks like that. I haven’t celebrated a birthday in a long time and even go as far as going dark to avoid people trying to get something out of me on their birthday. I don’t really know why, it just seems super gross and needy as if they really need people to buy them things. I’m not rude about it though, I just try to pass over any comments around me when it comes to birthdays and people wanting to celebrate them.
Sorry if I do seem rude. If there are ways for me to improve my outlook on the concept of birthdays, someone let me know. Because I’ve genuinely been like this for a long time.
2 comments
Sounds like maybe you had some bad experiences with how your own birthday was celebrated?
I don’t really feel negatively towards other people for it, but I do find it very uncomfortable and awkward to tell anyone about my *own* birthday because it does feel like I’m somehow asking for something, so it’s quite impressive to me that other people can do it so easily. I didn’t even tell my partner about it even though I kinda wanted to.
But I don’t think it’s bad to have one day in a year where you can expect people to give you special attention and nice things or whatever… specifically because *everyone has one*. So it’s reciprocal. You can expect it from others because you have the understanding that you’ll do the same for them. You’re not actually expecting special treatment in the bigger picture.
ETA: So maybe the other commenter is right that you might find it unpleasant when others seem to solicit celebration if you *don’t* have the understanding that they’d do the same for you?