Background: I host a monthly Russian Language Dinner as a volunteer for a local nonprofit. A couple of weeks ago, I sent out invitations to a potluck dinner to all my “regulars” for this Saturday evening. I have been running around like a maniac trying to clean up my apartment, plan the menu, and figure out what (and how much of it) I need to buy and/or cook in preparation. This has been a long-anticipated event; a number of my regulars have been asking for many months when I was going to host something on the weekend, so they could bring their Russian-speaking friends/S.O.s and be able to kick back and relax, rather than having a rushed restaurant dinner and all-too-short chat at our usual monthly dinners, which take place on weeknights.
There were 62 people on the guest list. How many have indicated whether they are coming? A whopping 25%! I may have ten people in my apartment on Saturday, or I may have more than 50! What is wrong with these people? I mean come on, I know a potluck isn’t exactly a wedding, but the darn invitation was an Evite, so how long does it take to respond? A whole 30 seconds? Were these people raised by wolves or something? And how am I supposed to know how much to cook? Maybe only people who RSVPd will be allowed to eat, unless they bring a dish to share…