The history (boring but necessary):
Mike is a pretty cool guy; I've always liked him. His wife Karen is a sweetheart. I like them both, even though as cool as they are, they're both complete airheads, and it drives me nuts sometimes, but they're meant for each other. It works.
I met them through playing in church bands like 10 years ago, then later Karen's band was looking for a keyboard player so I joined, and later when our bass player quit, Mike was even our bassist for a while.
Mike and Karen are doing alright. They have a very nice house out here in the 'burbs, and also "the lake house" just ten miles up the road, on one of the many lakes around here. Every summer they have a big to-do at the lake house, Mike gets a bunch of bands, plus there's some open jamming in between sets and stuff. All day/night party. Mike invites "every musician I know" and it's a great time. At least it always looks fun, from the Facebook pictures I see that Mike and Karen and a bunch of other people I know are tagged in. I always felt a little jealous, wanting to join in the jams, hang with cool people like that. One time it occurred to me, Mike has said multiple times that he invites every musician he knows. I was invited exactly once; we were playing in a band together at the time so he pretty much had to. When I thought of that, I gotta be honest, I was kinda hurt.
Or maybe Mike's just an airhead and says he invites everyone, but everybody pretty much knows each other and they all just show up. No reason to specifically feel excluded, right? Except they all seem to know when to show up at the lake house. It was a great time, we made some good jams. I'd love to do it again. We've been involved in a few musical things since then, though nothing serious.
Anyway, it's been a while, but Mike called me out of the blue this morning. They're moving to Nashville, but they're having one last thing at the house (Mike's 60th birthday, actually). And since everyone was going to be there, including all the former members of one of his old bands, they thought it'd be cool to put together a short list of songs and have a mini-reunion. But, the keyboard player had to pull out at the last minute due to a family thing. Wait, when is this? This Sunday, four days from now.
Well, shit. Huge birthday party, everyone's invited, although after knowing him and playing with him for almost ten years, I'm still not on the list. But when your keyboard player has to drop out at the last minute and you need someone, oh yeah, there's Bob.
I look at the list. 12 songs, Six for sure and six maybes. I know over half of them now and the rest are easy enough. I'd sit in on keyboards and kick ass and get to play with Mike and Karen one last time before they move away, plus help save the gig and be the hero from coast to coast.
A million reasons to do it, and one not to. Because it annoys me, nay, it hurts, OKAY FINE IT PISSES ME OFF that I'm never invited. I'm a fucking crybaby about that, I'm six years old and I'm the new kid on the block and all the other kids know each other and exclude me even though a couple of times they've hung with me and I thought it was cool but maybe I guess not but YEAH WHEN YOUR KEYBOARD PLAYER CAN'T MAKE IT, WHO YOU GONNA CALL? And if Mike had not called, I wouldn't have known or cared about the party and they would've moved to Nashville and I'd've maybe heard about it later some time. But he did call, and after getting a little excited for a minute, now there's a part of me that wants to say FUCK YOU.
But I know he's an airhead. I know it's still possible (how possible, I'm not sure) that there was absolutely no slight intended, and I really am being a six-year-old about this. Yep, guilty as charged.
I told Mike I'll check out the list and let him know by the end of the day whether I'm in. I have no idea, or maybe way too many ideas, about what to say.
Topic: Need advice because I am too weak to decide for myself (Read 2466 times)
