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Read other letters about this article
Thank you, Cary! Thank you!
And now you will probably want to thank me, because I am on deadline and work and can't go off into an incoherent rant about how this letter simply peeved me. And how this behavior in general can be so painfully annoying. A sentence like, "I met a great guy, we moved in together, we had a beautiful son, and now we're engaged," just jangles my nerves, and I think you are right to mention it. The writer obviously did not feel the need to get married prior to spawning an offspring - yet now she and her fiancée (oh yes please, let's call him her fiancée and spell it all properly, like it means something) are hosting a christening ceremony - and soon come the wedding!
My take on this is rather different than Cary's, though. I find this annoying not only because people who have sham religious ceremonies when it suits them and not in the proper order that one might think required by the actual religion in question are behaviorally inconsistent. I find it annoying - and insulting, when I'm invited to these things - because a part of me is always deeply suspicious that the party-throwers are only doing it for the schwag. For the party. For the attention. And for the presents. It is all part of the now-horribly-prevalent culture of shower shower baby shower wedding shower bridal shower party party look at me look at me look at me I'm a pretty princess GIVE ME PRESENTS AND MORE PRESENTS! folderol that accompanies modern weddings and christenings.
And then, of course, the party-throwers are always put out! Aghast! Incredulous! That someone else - a family member, say, who thought they might be an interested party - would venture an opinion. Would want to save money by staying at the house. Dear letter writer - you invited these people! They thought you wanted them to come. This isn't an inexpensive proposition - a cross-country flight, maybe new shoes or a new dress - and you, dear letter writer, would be terminally aggrieved if there were no PRESENT involved, right? So if some family members want to stay at your house rather than incur more expense in honor of you and your out-of-wedlock (OMG, I want to say "brat," but I am stopping myself) son, what's so terrible about that? You are getting MARRIED, yes? So these people will soon be your FAMILY, right? And what's that Mark Twain said about family? Oh - yes - your family are those people who, when you have nowhere else to go, have to take you in.
You might want to think about that. Harrumph.
Sorry. I did end up ranting there.
