They'll Always Have Paris

My friend and his partner are on their way to Paris this afternoon. Lucky them. They invited me to go along... actually, they implored me to go. "Come to Paris with us!"... "It'll be fabulous, like something out of a movie!"... "This is a great time for you to go! You have nowhere to be, nothing but time!"... "Can you imagine!?! You could totally find yourself there and meet some fabulous French guy and live happily ever after in a beret!"... "When are you ever going to have this opportunity again?"

I've always wanted to visit the City of Light and I know I will someday, though definitely never in July and certainly not as a third wheel.  But who are they kidding?!?  I should go to Paris (not on their dime or else I'd have gone, third-wheel-in-July-be- damned) when I have no idea how I'm going to stay solvent if I don't find full-time employment.  I had to endure an entire evening of peer-pressurized begging last week and am glad they're finally on their way so I can have a little peace.  I have my fingers crossed that they'll bring me back some macarons from Ladurée.

It would be nice if life was like it is in the movies and even though I have major financial commitments, few resources and am entirely self-supporting, I could jet off devil-may-care to a foreign land where I discover myself and, of course, find myself discovered by a local heartthrob, then ride off into the sunset or something.  But I can't.  Who can!?!  I pointed out how unrealistic their pipe dream was; aside from being fiscally irresponsible, it was fiscally impossible, and they just scoffed and said I was a stick-in-the- mud.  Easy to say when you're a corporate VP.  Too bad he's not in my field of work.

It's so funny to me the level of incomprehension among my friends.  I just had to explain to a girlfriend that, no, I could not  do a movie and lunch Saturday afternoon because it's not in my budget and she said "who can't afford a movie and a salad?"  Um, me.  I'll get back to all of those little life extras when I have regular funds coming in.  For my age group, it's very apparent that the buy now, pay later philosophy has run amuck.  But I'm sure my mortgage lender appreciates that I'm pinching my pennies and not running off to Gay Paree with next month's payment.