Thursday 10 March 2011

Weekend woe

How very sad that so many people invent exciting, glamorous weekends for themselves because the reality of lonely or humdrum days off is too embarrassing for them to admit to. They want to be in a wild social whirl like everyone else.

A new survey says that 27 per cent of us deliberately lie about our weekend activities to impress others, concocting parties, romantic flings or even trips abroad, because the humble truth of gawping at the TV or having a lie-in makes us seem pathetically middle-aged and past it.

It seems that having lots of friends and a frantic social life is now such a desirable norm that people with empty diaries who just want to watch reruns of The Wire feel there's something wrong with them. They're afraid other people will see them as dysfunctional misfits.

But what's really sad isn't their preferred lifestyle and their lack of company. What's sad is the fact that they choose to fabricate elaborate lies rather than saying, that's how I am, that's how I spend my weekends, what's it to you?

I suspect humdrum weekends are probably the norm for most people, despite assumptions to the contrary. If you actually looked into people's homes on a Saturday evening, you'd find plenty of people in decidedly unglamorous settings, unblocking the sink or changing the cat litter.

And just suppose two workmates are both lying to each other about their weekends. They're telling bigger and bigger whoppers to impress the other. If A has been to a luxury hotel in New York with the sexiest woman in town, then B has to produce an even hotter woman in an even swankier location. While they both know they were really sprawled on the settee guzzling fish and chips.

Well, I don't mind admitting that I spend most of my weekends doing nothing more exciting than cosying up to my loved one, ploughing through a paperback or ambling round the neighbourhood. There are no lightning trips to Venice or celebrity-packed parties. Unless you count that little jaunt with Penelope Cruz of course....

23 comments:

  1. Nothing better than cosying up to a loved one if you are fortunate enough to have one. Enjoy!

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  2. Grannymar - Oh, I enjoy it all right! And you've got all those admiring toyboys to enjoy! That's when you're not at a wild all-night party of course....

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  3. I happen to like humdrum weekends - curled up with a good book

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  4. Terra - Good for you. And an intelligent book can sometimes be a lot more enjoyable than a rather dull and unimaginative real-life person!

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  5. most of my weekends are full of shopping, housework and dvds.
    it's not always what i want but i would certainly choose to have some of those in the mix!

    i'll be sure to tell you when i have a weekend in LA with a bunch of super cool chicks!

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  6. Kylie - What, you mean you weren't in LA with all those super cool chicks last weekend? That must have been because you were having that romantic fling with the super cool bloke in the Maldives....

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  7. thats it, the one with the huge










    bank account

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  8. Kylie - Ooh, you saucy little minx, you. Lowering the tone as usual. Just how big is it, anyway?

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  9. I am permanently on weekends. So, your little jaunt intrigues me. Will you swap Penelope with my Sharon?

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  10. Oh I just so wish George Clooney would just give up and stop hitting on me all the time.
    And that Brad would go back to wife and kids.
    I'm so exhausted from all the attention I'll have to escape soon. To one of my other homes. The farm in Provence, I think.
    XO
    WWW

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  11. Ramana - Which Sharon? I have no interest in Sharon Stone. Unless she's got a few thousand dollars to spare.

    W3 - If it wasn't for the fact that I've seen the pics of you and George canoodling at your chic Newfoundland hideaway, I'd think you were making it all up.

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  12. Just a reminder, Nick, you did say you would split the commission on the sale of those pics?
    XO
    WWW

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  13. W3 - You must be joking. I need every penny for my long weekend in Chicago, laying down some backing tracks for Sheryl Crow's new album.

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  14. In my experience the pleasures of going out compare poorly to the pleasure of lying in bed on one's own doing nothing. (In fact commenting on blogs such as this one is more or less the extent of my social life these days.)

    The pleasure of impressing people is also overrated.

    What proportion of people lie in surveys?

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  15. newjenny - Going out with others is very hit-and-miss. Sometimes the conversation is riveting, sometimes it's agonisingly dull. If only we could "preview" people the way we can preview films.

    I think a lot of people lie in surveys. I wonder how many people lied about lying?

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  16. Huh. I tell people I slept in, had a fatty breakfast, and stayed in my jammies all weekend holding off on my first beer. It's true, but it has the advantage of also making people jealous of me.

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  17. Well you know what I do on my weekends, when I do anything, because I post it! That's how rare fun in the sun can be! I'm with GM you're lucky to have a loved one to cuddle up to. I spend most Saturday nights talking to a loved one 7,000 miles away. No cuddling but it's better than telly. The problem with lying about things is that you have to perpetuate the lie. My memory is so shit that I'd forget and trip myself up.

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  18. It's never occurred to me to try and impress people with what I do on the weekend. I usually play mah jong with friends on Friday nights and see a movie on Saturday afternoons. the rest of the time I would like to spend in bed reading but it doesn't always work out that way.

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  19. Murr - That sounds like the ideal existence. Except in my case it would be wine, I can't stand beer.

    Baino - 7000 miles is an awfully long distance between you but yes, better than TV. Me too with lying, my memory's terrible, I can hardly remember what I did last week.

    Myra - I've never played Mah Jong, but I had some friends once who were fanatical about it. Yes, why the need to impress people anyway? If they don't like my lifestyle, tough.

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  20. I'm with you on this, nick, usually ut I did have a really exciting time this morning ...

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  21. Liz - You went Christmas shopping with younger son? Christmas isn't a typo? And was that delayed shopping from last Christmas or advance shopping for next Christmas? I can't believe what an exciting life you lead, I'm green with envy....

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  22. Even changing the cat litter can be glamorous if you wear a pair of sling backs whilst you do it.
    Okay, I fib, I haven't even got a cat anymore.
    Sx

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  23. Scarlet - I always do the hoovering in my corset and stilettos, so I feel like a screen goddess as I squeeze into those dusty corners.

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