Do you celebrate your birthday?

Free dinner and drinks. I'll take it once every year.

 

Patton Oswalt has answered this question. (NSFW)

 

I never do anything about my own birthday myself. Never buy myself cake, never take the day off, etc etc. None of my coworkers knows when my birthday is, except that it's in September.

Now my four siblings all celebrate them, plus my five nieces/nephews, so there are plenty of birthday parties always going on, and I always join in. They usually offer to throw me a party on the weekend just before or after the actual date. Sometimes I beg out on it for a couple weeks. Last year I had schedule problems for a month to the point when my birthday party was going to bump into my sister's (and brother's, a week later), so I just put the word out not to worry about it anymore. I snooze, I lose. I think most of the presents people bought for me ended up going to my brother.


None of this is to imply anybody else should or must do the same thing. If you get the day off or have a personal day you can use, why not?

Because the big bosses won't like it? Fuck the big bosses. You can bet they take THEIR birthdays off.

 

Damn, there's a lot of 39 year olds on this site (myself included).

New SportsJournalists.com overlords, take note of the advertising possibilities for gag gifts such as canes, old fart T-shirts, etc. for 2012.

 

Some were probably 39 last year, and will still be 39 next year.

 

Good point, though mine is legit. I'm getting old. I admit it. It is far better than the alternative.

 

Yup, definitely sound like a bitter, grumpy old fart.

I got my first job when I was 15 stocking shelves and bagging groceries at a grocery store. Whenever someone would call off, I'd gladly fill in. Whenever they needed an extra hand, I was there, including on my birthday. But on my 21st birthday, in my fourth year as a part-timer at my paper, I was sent to be a sidebar guy at a big wrestling tournament two hours out of town. I didn't mind at all since I enjoy wrestling and it was our best team (who eventually won a team state title) wrestling some of the best schools in the state. During the tournament it started snowing to the point that they shut down the interstate and me and my colleague got snowed in the town we were in which just so happened to be in a dry county.

Turns out my friends, knowing I was at an assignment but also knowing I was supposed to be home by 10, planned a surprise birthday party for me that I never got to go to. Instead I got pictures all night of everybody having a good time while I watched Stump the Schwab in a hotel room two hours from home. Decided then and there that as long as I had vacation days available, I'd never work on my birthday again unless it was absolutely unavoidable.

For 364 days a year I bend over backwards to do my job and do it well. For one day a year, I turn off everything. No calls from work, no e-mails from work and no texts from work. My mother still makes me fettucini alfredo with chicken (my favorite meal) for my birthday every year and I do what I want on that day. I get two weeks of vacation time a year and I like to use two or three days around my birthday to spend time with my family and friends I don't get to see that often because I'm busy devoting myself to my job to maybe one day be able to accomplish the goals that I have. I'm sorry if that offends you.

 

Well I also think it depends on the job. If you're a baseball beat guy and your birthday isn't in December, it might be hard to do. But we get a number of PTO days we can use when we want, as long as there are still enough people to update the site. So I get it.

 

no need to apologize to me, but this also goes to what you're beat is, no? i mean, if you're covering high schools and your joint has several high school folks i'd imagine it's no problem getting the day. sounds like your b'day is in the winter. if it's, say, from nov.-feb., and you were the beat person for the local nfl football team, are you saying your boss would allow you to take a football sunday off so you could keep your 'no birthday' vow alive? i dunno any sports ed's who are so kind. you're very lucky. just sayin' this is a rough biz for hard-and-fast rules regarding days off. plus, you're blessed to be much younger than i -- your 'birthday rule' has not been put to the test very much yet...

 

My birthday is in mid-January, and I'm not obtuse about the situation. I understand that if I'm covering something like the NFL that I can't just take a day off. But as long as I can help it, I'm not going to work on my birthday. Fortunately, my goals are to cover baseball, so outside of a trade, hiring or firing, it shouldn't be a problem.

Maybe it's conceited to think so, but my birthday is about me. I want to do what makes me happy on my birthday. I don't think that's so much to ask. And as long as people keep enjoying Mitch-a-paloozas, I'll keep throwing them.

 

most importantly here's hoping your aspirations to cover baseball are realized. and my educated (experienced) opinion regarding the b'day issue is that as your life changes, so might the level of importance you attach to adding another digit....

 

We don't have big celebrations for birthdays, but we usually try to go out for dinner with any of the family that is close and available on the weekend before or after a birthday. Birthday person gets to pick the restaurant with no complaints from any one in the group.

Pretty much we just use birthdays as an excuse to go out and eat. Nothing wrong with that, in my opinion.

Often, my birthday falls near Labor Day, so there always seems to be someone toasting me and buying me a drink to 'celebrate.' Again, nothing wrong with that, in my opinion.