It usually begins with a 'Hello! Miss you all. Let's get together.' from H.
And then G says, 'Waaa, boss A is here. Let's ask for a treat.'
And then J says, 'Aha! Agree. Boss A, when is it?'
And then, the message thread goes silent. No reply from H. It's like, forever silent?
Or this one.
Everybody says,'Waaa, Boss B. When are you going to invite us to Ancol?'
'Sure. What about a lunch gathering at *name of a restaurant in Ancol Bay*? Let say, on *date*? ON ME.' says Boss B.
The answers are ranging from:
'Aaah, I am out of town.' from V.
'Hohoho, it's weekend. I can't make it.' from E.
'OMG. How do I have to go there? By bus? Oh no!' from U.
'It's a pity I can't come. My house is so far, *rawamangun-ancol is far?*' from I.
And then silence.
And then there is that 'Helloooo, everybody. When can we meet?' from E after a few months.
Silence. Not even an answer from Boss B.
Or, it goes like this.
'Let's get together. At X at Y o'clock?'.
One person goes, 'Sure!'
One says,'Count me in!'
The other says, 'I will let you know. I have bla bla bla.'
Another one says,'I can't confirm now.'
Within a week, I get the notice, 'Please invite some more people.' It goes like three times and it starts to feel like an order instead of a friendly request. So I say,'How many have you invited?'I've got no answer.
Days go by.
Silence on D - 3.
Silence on D - 2.
Silence on D - 1.
I just wait, and wait and wait. With this style of work, I say to myself, 'It would be amazing if this can actually happen.'
And yes, I am right again.
Five hours before the D time, there's this news from Ms.F, 'It seems we have to cancel. Ms. V cannot make it.'
What happens then? It's a sudden cancellation, for God's sake. What I expect to happen happens. Since Ms. F invites some people and those some people invite some more, she loses track of the number of people she has to give the cancellation news. I have no problem with that because I inform my only person who says 'yes'. One phone call and all is alright. In her case, two ladies end up waiting at the designated place and some more probably don't want to have anything to do with any other invitation.
So, what's the morale of the story?
If you're the one invited:
1. confirm or refuse asap. Giving a vague answer leaves you off my next invitation list and puts you on the numero uno of my pain-in-the-neck list,
2. don't make me choose who you want or don't want to go with, especially when there are some 'public enemies' in the group. The 'everybody is entitled to join' point is always on my list, no matter how a lousy friend you are (dear Lord help me. Fairness can sometimes has its price),
3. I go with the choice from the majority. So, when you are offered something and you say 'whatever' you should truly mean it. I take no enjoyment from scolding anybody who change their mind after the choice is decided, but I promise you I don't hesitate,
4. maintain communication! Ah, how I so want to kill some people who did the first point and then playing hard to get by being so difficult to reach.
If you're the one inviting:
1. keep contacting your invitees. Getting refusals is painful, but getting a no-show is even more excrutiating. Believe me,
2. no chain invitations. You'd get a heart attack when you find out that your invitees outnumber your food supply,
3. be strong because you'll need a strong heart to invite people. Anything could happen. Hang your hopes high but be prepared for huge disappointment.
Oh yeah, one more thing. If it's a gathering, could people just skip that 'Boss X, treat us. You're a boss now.' thing? Come, ooooooon. You're not THAT financially deprived to pay for your own meal right?
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