Please, Ma…..Don’t Make Me!

Today, at work, I heard that a coworker’s daughter has a friend who is turning 16 and is saddened that her birthday celebration is bittersweet because no one on her ‘invite’ list has responded that they will go.
I’m not sure who to blame for this. Is it the parents of the kids who haven’t even responded or the kids themselves for being rude?
This story made me remember this. As many of my friends know, my mother was confined to a wheel chair/hospital bed for the majority of her short life due to MS. This didn’t stop her, however, from keeping tight control of her household; particulary her children.
Coming home, one day, in my 16th year, I was ‘summoned’ to her room. ‘Eddie, I got a phone call from Mrs. Williams today. ‘You remember her daughter, Nancy, don’t you…..you went to grammar school with her………remember?’
By this time, I was sweating……….’Nancy needs a date to her junior prom at Notre Dame High School……you’re going’.
My reaction can only be compared to Jimmy Cagney’s performance in ‘Angels with Dirty Faces’ where, in the death row scene, he is dragged to the electric chair, crying, screaming, grabbing the radiator, etc.. If you haven’t seen this movie, I’ve attached the scene so you can get a visual of what I went through……My performance didn’t work and guess what? I went and actually had a nice time. So, to the kids who don’t want to go to my coworker’s daugther’s friends party and, particularly, to the parents of these ‘Im too busy to respond’ young people……… too bad…you’re missing out on a good time…..