Life Musings

A few days ago, I was at a female friend's birthday party. I like to give flowers, so I decided to give her something special. I found out what her favorite flowers were, so I found a good florist and gave her a tasteful floral arrangement in an inexpensive vase. She thanked me for the gesture and said that they were very nice. (I think she might have also given me a light hug, but I don't remember.)

Later that evening, two other guys walked in with a pair of cheap, generic supermarket bouquets -- the kind that must have cost $4 each. She jumped up excitedly and said, "Oh, they're wonderful! They're so beautiful! I can't believe you did that!" She was clearly thrilled by these presents, as evidenced by her more enthusiastic response. Perhaps you can imagine how that made me feel.

To top it off, she then held the bouquets in her arms, stood between these two guys, turned me and said, "You're now my photographer. Please, please take a photo of me with these flowers!"

I was more than a little hurt; after all, my present required a great deal more effort and it cost a lot more. I think it was also the more thoughtful gesture. Even if that weren't the case though, it would be hard to overlook her drastically different response to these other presents. Can you understand why I feel slighted?

You know what? It's hard not to think of this as a slam against one's masculinity or personal attractiveness. Nuts.