The party I did tonight was in a very urban area, far from the quiet town where I live. It reminded me of the city I lived in before I had kids. The hostess and guests were all black, and appeared to all be single moms. There was an ever-changing assortment of brothers, nieces and babies, all with unusual names, and it was hard to keep track of everyone and figure out who went with which mom! Fathers were noticeable by their absence.
I arrived to set up at 5.10pm and found the place in disarray, but everyone was put to work and the place was soon transformed into party central. Some kids cleaned, others were dispatched to the store for food and ice – everyone had a role. The invite said 6pm but the first guest didn’t show up until around 7.15pm. Loud reggae music blared from the stereo. We ate fried chicken and danced and found surprising things in common.
It was a lot of fun, but very chaotic and quite a long way removed from my usual crowd! I was grateful for my GPS to guide me home to more familiar surroundings.
Tags: culture shock, direct sales
