Next time, I'll ask

A few weeks ago, I attended a birthday party for a coworker of mine that I have become good friends with.

The party was a potluck (not something I have done since I was fresh out of college, but everyone's financial situation is different), and was held in the condominium of the birthday girl's bestfriend. People were assigned everything, and I do mean everything, to bring right down to the paper napkins and the cheesy picnic table cloth. The hostess supplied an enclosed room with a carpeted floor, electricity, running water, and not enough chairs for every butt.

The first problem came as I walked in the door. I walked the 2006 Los Angeles Marathon. The training left me with some injuries. One of which, a heel spur, makes it quite painful for me to walk in bare feet. I need to wear my orthotic insert. Most of the time, when visiting someone, I will remember to ask about this as I will not step foot in a house where I cannot keep my shoes on.

The hostess had a no shoes policy. Not only that, but I was required to remove my trouser socks (thank God that I believe in keeping my pedicure current at all times.) and put on those damn cotton things with the individual toes that I hate. Seriously, why was this even a requirement? I don't see how nylon can damage a carpet that, from the style, was installed in the early 1970s. The carpet in my town home is old too, but you do not see me demanding that people levitate across it to keeping from mussing it up.

I arrived just in time for the dreaded sales presentation. In addition to having us supply the food for her bestfriend's birthday party, the hostess (and I use this term loosely) also intended for us to fund the gift. The hard sale was on for the guests to purchase a collective amount of $x dollars in product so that the hostess would get a bonus she could then use to purchase a birthday gift for her bestfriend.

It's my pet peeve when people invite me to a party and then spring a sales presentation on me. People who cannot afford to host a party - and I am aware rising gas prices along with the declining housing market are crunching many a budget - should not throw parties. I also think that people should be upfront about what something is. If I want my friends to help fund my colored lint business, then I'll invite them over for a sales presentation to hawk my goods and not disguise it as a housewarming party.

Fortunately, I left my checkbook at home and I am not in the habit of handing my credit cards over to just anybody. As I also carry limited cash and am allergic to cheap crap, I had to politely decline the opportunity to purchase anything. This decision was met with much eye-rolling. It's as if the hostess equated spending an evening eating my own food, wearing footwear I detest, and sitting on the floor in a cramped space with a night at the Bellagio Hotel and decided to charge us accordingly. Bah!

Next year I am going to skip the party and take my friend to lunch.