Yuppie Obligation- The Tupperware Party

When you are a housing development-dwelling Yuppie there is no tradition more insiduous than the Tupperware Party. And I don't just mean tupperware. There are parties for pretty much everything you can imagine. Jewelry. Chocolate. Make-up. Use-me-with-only-one-specific-recipe-and-keep-me-in-the-kitchen-drawer-the-rest-of-the-year-utensil party.

When you are a Yuppie, it is without a doubt that you will be invited to one of these parties. I've lived in the development a year and have been invited than no fewer than 10. No kidding.

And I hate them. I don't understand the concept. If you want to have your friends and neighbors come over to your house and drink wine, why not just throw a party? I know you get credits or whatever for hosting a party, but is it really worth it? Do you really need that silicone-tipped thin-spaghetti tongs that much?

Apparently. And Apparently I'm just as much of a sucker. Because I hosted a party last night. And I was really excited to do it. Our neighbor Myrna makes the most adorable mother-daughter crocheted hats. She's just launching her business, so I wanted to host the first party and help her out. And her stuff IS really cute.
But what bothered me was the lack of rule-following by friends and family. Because there ARE rules to these sorts of social gatherings. Allow me to spell them out.

1. You do not have to attend. But if you're invited, you're supposed to buy something out of the catalog. (I HATE this! Either way you're on the hook for $20-$50. But hey, I don't make the rules.) Don't worry, if you're reading this, it doesn't apply to you. Myrna has no catalog. I'm just listing general rules here.

2. If you do attend, the person whose party you are attending is obligated to attend your next party. (Shit. Another awesome neighbor who sells that really, really expensive jewelry came. Now I'm on the hook for at least $70 next time I get invited over there.) If someone has attended your party before, you should make every effort to attend theirs. It's only fair. You took them for $50, now it's payback.

3. You must "ooh" and "ahh" over all the merchandise. Even if you are really thinking "how the hell am I going to afford this? I mean, the cheapest Maddy Moo purse here is like $150!

4. Just relax and accept it. Sigh. I need to take my own advice. These parties are a great opportunity to support your neighbors. And there is a lot of great gossiping that happens. But $50 for a frickin' pair of earrings that broke less than a week after I got them? I mean, who does this Lia Sophia think she is? Sigh. It's all worth it. This is what you sighed up for when you moved into the burbs.

And based on last night's turn-out... I'll be going to a lot of tupperware parties in the next year.