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How to Lose Friends and Alienate People
Day 25, Wednesday 11th April 2018
Outraged. Utterly outraged. Although it was a very restrained, polite, British outrage.
Six weeks ago I received an invitiation to a garden party. A friend who recently moved down to Sussex invited a large group of people to her house for a sunny afternoon BBQ and drinks. Sadly, I had many plans that weekend, so was unable to accept the invitation, until a full-day weekend photography workshop was suddenly cancelled, freeing up a whole day. Immediately, I informed the host that I was able to attend.
What happened next was highly irregular. A group message arrived asking all attendees to pay £15 each by midnight towards our share of the caterers and drinks providers, which would provide a juice, a vegan burger, superfood salad and a mojito.
This was when the outrage appeared. I’ve never been invited to a house party where I’ve been asked to also pay for outside catering.
That’s not to say that I’ve never attended a party with outside catering, I’ve been to several, yet no entry fee was charged, as the host clearly decided that their budget allowed for this indulgence. I’ve also attended parties where the host provided very little and simply asked guests to bring food and drink, which felt like a highly honourable way to…
