Excessive Partying

People like to have parties. They like parties so much that "party" has become a verb. People like to party. And these parties are getting more and more extravagant.

It seems like not so long ago, children's birthday parties were quite simple and low-key. Nothing more than some other kids, a couple of party games, and some cake. Now people are renting out banquet halls and country clubs for this - especially for events like "Sweet Sixteen" parties. Why is a 16th birthday so important for a girl? Nothing big happens at 16. Most states allow someone to get a driver's license, but boys don't have "sweet 16" birthdays. And isn't getting the license itself enough of a celebration of that momentous event? Years ago, 16 may have been a more important turning point in a young woman's life. Nowadays, turning 16 no longer signals that she is of marrying age. Maybe a big sixteenth birthday party actually sends the wrong signal, and suggests that her parents think she's "an adult" or "fair game."


What about other parties? Haven't they gotten out of control? Bar and Bat Mitzvahs that parents save up for for years - and this is a 13 year old kid! Or, remember the First Communion party for young Anthony Corleone in The Godfather: Part II, that was on a lake in Nevada and the Corleones invited a U.S. Senator they'd never met?! Of course, that party involved other elements....


Plus, there are the "wedding spectaculars." [The Godfather had a pretty big wedding at the beginning of that film.] Surely, everyone wants to have a nice wedding, but the pre-wedding parties seem to be getting out of hand. Bachelor/-ette parties are getting more and more elaborate. Instead of just an evening out in the hometown, people are taking trips to Vegas or Atlantic City or Montreal. And these parties don't just last one night, but a full weekend, a long weekend, or maybe even most of a week. And then there's the Engagement party, some sort of pre-wedding fête that has come to mirror the wedding reception in extravagence, and where the protocol/etiquette about gift-giving seems to be still evolving.

I guess everyone just likes to party ... in style.