Foundations

Today Greg and I celebrate our anniversary. That is, we would have celebrated our anniversary if I hadn't been working until late afternoon and he hadn't had a bachelor party to go to starting shortly thereafter for one of his former roommates. Figuring out that we both had rather important commitments (I need to work to pay rent, and he shouldn't let down his roommate), we arranged to go out yesterday morning for breakfast at one of our favourite breakfast places and celebrate then. Oddly, the reaction from several of my acquaintances to this piece of information was "you did what? You let him get away with that?" which left me with nothing but puzzlement. What, exactly, did I let Greg get away with? And why was the emphasis put on his getting away with "it"? Didn't I, too, "get away with" working on our anniversary?

This idea that the world should fall away in order to allow sentimentality seems strange to me. The world doesn't keep track of our important dates. And really, where's the logic in throwing a stinking fuss about celebrating on the exact date? Sure, I could have thrown a massive fit about Greg going to a party on our anniversary, but that would have resulted in either:
a) him canceling his plans and being angry, and me feeling a combination of guilty and vindicated, or,
b) him refusing to cancel his plans and us both being angry, me feeling rejected, and him feeling guilty.
Where, tell me, is the good in that? Our relationship isn't built on this kind of selfishness, but on generosity and rationality. It's rational that we arrange to celebrate early when things are in the way. It's generous of us both to grant the time for one to work and the other to support a friend. And really, isn't the point just to make sure the event is recognized? Does it matter if the significance and recognition happens a day early? "Darn you, Greg! How dare you tell me you love me on a day other than our anniversary!" Poop to that.

I have to look at these women (because, yes, they were all women) who were aghast at my sacrifice and wonder if this has something to do with the reason they all have such a bad track record with men...