(Tangent Alert: About a year ago, a friend of mine suggested a brilliant idea. If I get an alert for someone's birthday, and I don't even want to wish them "Happy Birthday" on their wall, then I should de-friend them. I've been cleaning up my friend list every day since. Back to birthdays though.)
When I was little, I would get so excited about my birthday that I'd have trouble falling asleep, and when I did, I'd wake up super early. Somehow, magically, there'd be a pile of presents at my feet and I'd spend the rest of the morning opening and playing with new toys. Then relatives would come over, and I'd get more presents and cards. And then I'd have a birthday party, and my friends would come over and I'd get even more cards and presents. That was awesome!! However, after I graduated college Facebook had become the way to wish people Happy Birthday.
Now a days, on my birthday there's a flurry of wall posts, and if I'm lucky beers with my close friends. But what about the cards, what about the presents?
Hypothesis: One's birthday joy is directly related to the amount of effort the birthday gesture required.
Case 1: The Facebook wall post. This takes no effort. It's better than nothing, but it kinda sucks because you know the person probably forgot about your birthday anyways, and it took them two seconds.
Case 2: The birthday card. First, you have to buy a card. Then you have to hand-write a message. Finally you have to mail it. I gotta say, it's nice to get birthday cards.
Case 3: The surprise birthday party. This requires a lot of planning and effort. Someone has to pick a time and place, invite guests, make sure they don't spill the beans, get them all there early, trick me into thinking I'm going somewhere else, yell surprise, etc. A ton of effort, but I got to say, the one time I had a surprise birthday, it was an amazing feeling.
So there you have it, here are my findings:
Next time, send your real friends a birthday card, it'll make their day.
