AM I AN ASSHOLE?
I came in to work 30 min early to write this to my sister. Please, tell me if I'm being a dick, or being fair in my response.
Dearest Katy,
I'm writing to you regarding your rather curt voicemail message left to me this past friday, the evening of my birthday dinner. I do not appreciate the tone, nor the content of your message, as I felt it was unjustly accusatory and demeaning. First of all, your assumption that you have a right to view the invitation, penned by me, prior to its distribution, is laughable. At no point in the three months since we made the decision to throw father a birthday party have you put forth any effort to either voice your opinion or partake in the planning process. I suppose that statement is not entirely true because you did attempt to voice your opinion at the end of a dinner where I had imbibed a fair amount of alcohol. Thus far, I have booked the venue, performed hotel research, written an amusing and lengthy invitation, corresponded with three separate family members, and dealt with the finances of the party. Your contributions to this point: nothing. I sent a copy of the invitatio n to Sean because Sean and I have remained in touch regarding the planning, and he has assisted me in not only accruing the list of e-mail addresses, but has volunteered to take over the job of ordering specialized pint glasses for party favors. If there were such a thing as posessing the 'right' to view the invitation before its mailing, Sean would have earned it, whereas you would have not.
Your promise of being "very angry" at me for sending out the invitation before your approval really testifies to your lack of maturity. For what reason did you wish to peruse the letter? You had no concern for the party prior to learning of my writing out the invitation, so why now? Did you feel that your "crazy" brother would send out an invitation filled with blatherskite and non-sensical abstractions to give the appearance of being 'abnormal'? Perhaps you felt the need to contribute to the party and found this to be the one aspect that requires the least amount of actual work but would nevertheless win you a spot on the register of party planners. Were this the case, I would respond by saying that you may freely inform father of your "participation" in the planning and I will not contradict it at all. I will, however, request that you refrain from leaving me anymore voicemails of the aforementioned nature because messages of the sort are uncalled for and rude.
I welcome you to join in the planning of our father's 50th Surprise Party at any time, but realize that doing so requires effort on your part. It is not my job to contact you with things to do, nor is it my job to ensure that you are allotted a decent amount of responsibility. You have two phones, so use one of them to call me and POLITELY ask what you can do. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Ryan Scanlan.
Dearest Katy,
I'm writing to you regarding your rather curt voicemail message left to me this past friday, the evening of my birthday dinner. I do not appreciate the tone, nor the content of your message, as I felt it was unjustly accusatory and demeaning. First of all, your assumption that you have a right to view the invitation, penned by me, prior to its distribution, is laughable. At no point in the three months since we made the decision to throw father a birthday party have you put forth any effort to either voice your opinion or partake in the planning process. I suppose that statement is not entirely true because you did attempt to voice your opinion at the end of a dinner where I had imbibed a fair amount of alcohol. Thus far, I have booked the venue, performed hotel research, written an amusing and lengthy invitation, corresponded with three separate family members, and dealt with the finances of the party. Your contributions to this point: nothing. I sent a copy of the invitatio n to Sean because Sean and I have remained in touch regarding the planning, and he has assisted me in not only accruing the list of e-mail addresses, but has volunteered to take over the job of ordering specialized pint glasses for party favors. If there were such a thing as posessing the 'right' to view the invitation before its mailing, Sean would have earned it, whereas you would have not.
Your promise of being "very angry" at me for sending out the invitation before your approval really testifies to your lack of maturity. For what reason did you wish to peruse the letter? You had no concern for the party prior to learning of my writing out the invitation, so why now? Did you feel that your "crazy" brother would send out an invitation filled with blatherskite and non-sensical abstractions to give the appearance of being 'abnormal'? Perhaps you felt the need to contribute to the party and found this to be the one aspect that requires the least amount of actual work but would nevertheless win you a spot on the register of party planners. Were this the case, I would respond by saying that you may freely inform father of your "participation" in the planning and I will not contradict it at all. I will, however, request that you refrain from leaving me anymore voicemails of the aforementioned nature because messages of the sort are uncalled for and rude.
I welcome you to join in the planning of our father's 50th Surprise Party at any time, but realize that doing so requires effort on your part. It is not my job to contact you with things to do, nor is it my job to ensure that you are allotted a decent amount of responsibility. You have two phones, so use one of them to call me and POLITELY ask what you can do. Thank you.
Sincerely,
Ryan Scanlan.