Partly Cloudy, 64°
Should I say her name? People like hearing their names. I read that somewhere. I love it when people say my name. But I don't want to be one of those people who say "Happy birthday, Sarah," as if it's some kind of solemn pronouncement and they're saying something more profound than all the other people who just said "happy birthday!"
Maybe I should just say "Happy birthday!" But that is literally what every other post on this wall says. What's the point of even doing it if it's going to be one of a hundred posts that say the same thing? Well, the point is it'll make her feel good to get a huge number of posts, so I'll just be doing my small part. It's one of those things where if we all do it, then there will be a collective result that's greater than the sum of its parts. Like recycling.
I should recycle more. It's just that I don't understand the rules and I'm too old to ask about them. How can it make sense to recycle glass bottles and cardboard in the same dumpster?!
Should I use an exclamation point? It feels fake. I'm not that person. I would never say "love you and miss you too!!" in real life, so why do I feel like I need to text it to people? But saying "happy birthday," with no exclamation points would be a gigantic snub. It's a slap in the face! And on her BIRTHDAY! What kind of a monster am I?
If I write on her wall, it'll show up on my wall that I did it and it'll say what my message is. And I don't want people thinking I spend all my time wishing happy birthdays to just anyone.
So what, I should only post on walls of people I deem cool enough and who deserve to celebrate their continued journey of life? It's not even people I deem cool enough, either, because I didn't say happy birthday to that kid with the great hair I met at that party. I really only say it to people when I don't care what they think of me because they aren't important to me. Why do I do that, why am I nicer to the people I don't even like?
Maybe I should put in a typo so it looks like I haven't spent a lot of time on it. No, that's stupid.
If I don't write anything, she might not write on my wall on my birthday. And how depressing would that be? Pretty much all I do on my birthday since Facebook started is check my email for notifications. So I should plant some seeds now that will blossom in my favor when my birthday comes around. Jeez, I've never confronted this Machiavellian side of myself. This is chilling.
If I write something now, I know it will be with a selfish ulterior motive. And I don't want to put that out into the world. I'll just go look at pictures of the kid with the good hair for a second to calm down.
