When I was little, it was a big deal every year at Christmas time for one of the girls in my class to host a Christmas tea. I believe this was a tradition in her family, I'm not exactly sure. It was an opportunity for all the mothers and daughters to come together for an afternoon of tea, cookies, and lady-like conversation.
We all dressed up for this tea, it was Christmas time after all, and I remember being at this girl's house in this very fancy gated community in town, thinking "Oh MY GOD! I'm going to drop my tea or something and ruin this girl's house and then all the girls in my class REALLY WILL HATE ME AND MAKE FUN OF ME!" I was kind of a nervous wreck, but I stayed close by my mother's side because she was, and is, ever the lady.
So, we are all enjoying our tea out of our pretty tea cups and having nice lady like conversation and I'm still feeling nervous and noticing the whiteness of the carpet in this beautiful home. I'm not sure what happened. I can't explain if I tripped, someone bumped me or I secretly did it on purpose, but out of my little hands tumbles my tea cup. Brown liquid now covers the once pristine white carpet.
I am devastated. Mortified. I think I started crying. In fact, I know I started crying because that was my reaction to anything. I messed up? Start crying. I got mad? Tears start pouring. I embarrassed myself beyond anything I could have EVER imagined. I'm bawling in my party dress with my mother and all these other women rushing around saying, "Oh, no big deal, lalalala, Stop Crying, Kelly. No big deal, really, no big deal STOP CRYING KELLY!"
Ugh. Embarrassment central. And to top it off, I was at a function with all of "those girls". The mean ones, the ones who had more money than my family, and made sure that I was aware of it when I showed up in clothes from Target and they were wearing Dooney & Burke. I was ruined and would never be a part of THEIR world. They were perfect with perfect dresses and they definitely didn't drop tea cups at Christmas teas and ruin their friend's mother's carpet.
Fast forward a few years, okay, a lot more than a few years, and I had the opportunity to attend a very glamorous party with a friend of mine for a work function her employer was having. It was nice being an observer in this situation, that way I could mingle with whom I wanted and keep to myself otherwise. After all, my friend was technically working this social event.
This particular social event was held in a home similar to the one where the Christmas Tea was held. Very nice, a great home for hosting social events of this nature. Everyone dressed to the nines, lots of VERY important people in the community were in attendance, and I look over and see one of the most powerful women in the room drop her tea cup onto a very expensive looking Oriental carpet.
At that point, I realized that everyone puts their pants on the same way. And everyone is capable of dropping a tea cup on a friend's carpet, thus ruining her imported Oriental Rug from the Ming Dynasty. It doesn't make you a bad person, it just means you are clumsy.
And who needs a Dooney & Burke purse, anyway? Besides, that duck didn't match any of my outfits.
No comments:
Post a Comment