He’s COOKIN’ tho
Summary
Going to someone's birthday party is the nicest thing you can do for someone, according to an anonymous rider who's got the whole philosophy figured out. He breaks it down for Kareem: either they need bodies to fill the room and avoid embarrassment, they're trying to level up the friendship, or you're helping them hit some kind of bar minimum like a nonprofit fundraising goal. Whatever the reason, showing up matters. Even 15 minutes counts. Kareem's skeptical at first but comes around fast. By the end, he's all in on the birthday party take, convinced that it beats any gift you could buy.
Full Transcript
So what's your take? The nicest thing you can do for someone is go to their birthday party.
Tell me more. There's only a few reasons why someone want you there. Either A, they need people there. They want it to seem fun and they don't want to be embarrassed. Two, they want to—like, if you don't know them that well, it's like, "Oh, they want to take a next step in your friendship. They want to advance the friendship." Or three, they need to like meet a bar minimum, which like then you're contributing to like a nonprofit 501(c), helping them meet their fundraising goal. Like, there's no world in which going to someone's birthday party isn't an insanely generous, nice act. Like, if you can even go for 15 minutes, it's so nice. Swing by.
Yeah, I'm not saying you spend all night there. God forbid, it's humiliating. But go for a little before dinner or after. It's humiliating well they spend all night unless you're their best friend.
No, but all night, that's crazy. I will do anything to go to someone's birthday party if they invite me because it's like, if you invited me, I know you want it to feel full. You need bodies, right? And a birthday party is also, I think, like the only acceptable thing. Like, I don't want to—a gift? Oh my God. You know what, you've convinced me. Going to a birthday party is the nicest thing you can do.
Of course. I love it. I'm in.