Unpredictable, 4: Happy Birthday

4: Happy Birthday

It was Sunday morning and I was once again running low on clean clothes. So I hauled my laundry bag to the laundry room for the second time since moving in to perform what was a new task for me now that I was living on my own. I put my clothes into the washing machine and returned half an hour later to move them from the washer to the dryer. Then something rather curious happened. Stephanie, a tooth-pick thin ECE student came in and asked, “When’s your birthday?”

“Huh?” was my response. My birthday was, in fact, the very next day, which is likely one of the reasons I felt so confuzzled by such a question, not to mention the fact that I had received little recognition for my birthday since for the last several years.

“When’s your birthday?” Stephanie asked again

“Why do you want to know?” I asked.

“I’m making a list of everyone’s birthday so we can recognize it.”

It turned out that mine was not the only birthday that week. There were at least five others. Because of that, Stephanie was also planning on buying a cake so we could have a party for all those who were celebrating and wanted to collect contributions to pay for it. I said I would but had no extra money, but she assured me that it was okay because it was my birthday that week and I shouldn’t have to pay for my own cake.

And then she left. I finished my laundry, not thinking much of it. Why would I care? Nobody would be interested in my birthday but Mike and Tina Marie (really, just Tina).

By this point, Tina and I had become friends, and Mike and I had been on two dates. I had also learned that it was none other than my new boyfriend who had made that mysterious phone call which persuaded me to come here. No wonder I felt so drawn to this place.

When I was talking to my grandmother about how I felt about living in such a small town, she said, “You never know. You may fall in love.” Who would have thought she’d be right? But certainly not in the way she meant it.

Anyway, other than mentioning to Mike that evening, I did not give the encounter with Stephanie another thought. Like I said, nobody would be recognizing my birthday but Mike and Tina, as far as I was concerned. Truth be told, I could not have been more wrong.

That night, I kept saying that I did not want anyone to know it was my birthday. Big mistake. The even bigger mistake was saying this in front of Del, who was in my program that semester, and is also quite the character. He made certain that he arrived to one of our classes the next day before me so he could inform everyone that it was my birthday. When I walked in, at least fifteen people said--in unison--“Happy Birthday.” I was so embarrassed! It took all my discipline not to walk right out of there, glowing like a ruby.

It seems that September is a month with a very high birth rate, at least in the St. Lawrence College community. Along my own and the five other birthdays in rez, one girl in my class was celebrating her “birthday day.” That is, she was turning nineteen on September the nineteenth. So there were a lot of people saying, “Happy Birthday” that day and later in the week. To my surprize, I actually got a gift from someone other than Mike! It was from a class friend, Amanda. Despite all this, there was still more birthday madness to come.

That evening, Mike and I had our own little, private celebration. However, other than renting my favourite movie, it shall remain private.

Embarrassment = Fun

It was not until the next day, shortly before dinner that the rez birthday celebration was held. Of course, I went. Most of the people in rez who was time went. It was only in the common room, anyway. Personally, I was not there because it was my birthday. Del was turning twenty-one that day, making it legal for him to get totally shmammered (a cross between “smashed” and “hammered”) no matter where he went, and it look a lot of persuading to get him up there. Then again, he was not in the best of moods since his birthday were not working out. I went because Mike wanted to and because there was free cake. Like the list says, college students will eat anything as long as they do not have to pay for it.

By the time I got up there, all the comfy chairs were taken, so I sat in one of the not-so-comfy chairs near the back of the room. Right between Mike, who was officially my boyfriend at this point, and my roommate. Certainly not the safest place to be if you are one of the people celebrating, particularly if you dislike being the centre of attention.

In a few minutes, the cake was brought out. As the candles were being lit, everyone who was celebrating a birthday was encourage to come to the coffee table. Four of the people celebrating came happily to the cake. Del did so reluctantly. I outright refused. Right between my boyfriend and my roommate. The perfect recipe for humiliation.

As everyone sang “Happy Birthday,” Tina and Mike both grabbed one arm of the chair and carried me to the cake. I could not have been more embarrassed! But you know what? It wasn’t that bad. There are good and bad kinds of embarrassment, and this was most definitely the good kind. To quote my journal entry for that day, “That’s what I get for wanting to go unnoticed. I got put into the centre of attention and (yes, I admit it), have a lot more fun.