I had wanted to go out on Friday night, despite having to work early Saturday morning. I’ve done it before and it’s no biggie – I’ve got the rest of the weekend to recover. So I had sent the word around my group on Thursday but no one could make up their minds at the time.
So comes Friday evening and I was at home waiting for calls that never came, and I was still deciding if I would go even if I would be going alone because tyDi was spinning at Rise and it should be a good show.
By 11pm, no one had called to confirm anything and by that time I was kinda cosy in bed so I thought I’d be sensible and just stay home instead. Missing one night out wasn’t that big a deal. Then, Kayo called at around 11:40pm saying that I can go pick her and Kitty up. I said, “Huh? I am in bed already. I’m not going.” I had told them that had they called much earlier, I would have gone but not when I was already in my sleeping clothes and falling asleep in bed.
It wasn’t until Saturday afternoon when I found out what had transpired.
Kayo and Kitty had assumed that I was going to go regardless of whether I had company or not, and they thought that they should not let me go alone. So at around 9pm they both agreed that they would go, and had mentioned to each other that they would arrange for me to go pick them up. So off they went getting dressed and looking pretty for the night. Except – they both assumed that the other person will be calling me, and in the end neither of them did. And when they both realised this and did call at 11:40pm, well you know the rest.
Meanwhile, since I’ve already let them know that there is no pressure to come out if they didn’t want to, I was really only thinking of myself. And I assumed that if I decided that I wasn’t going to go out after all, I didn’t have to call anyone to let them know. So I didn’t. Kayo and Kitty both said that I should have called, and well you know the rest of the story here too.
You know how they say “assumption is the mother of all screw-ups” and when you assume, “you make an ass out of you and me”? This was so true here. So the outcome of this story is that we all agree to confirm and re-confirm next time.
And ironically, I couldn’t get into the building for work the next morning because my access card had stopped working and I was sent home by my manager. So had I known that this was going to happen, I would not have gone to bed that early, and I would have gone out with the girls even if they had called pretty late. Argh!
At the time, none of this seemed very funny to me at all. But now, it’s freaking hilarious. 
Oh man Oh man Oh man!
“assumption is the mother of all screw-ups” –> totally agree… This happen to me and gals friends as well.. …
so next time better confirm before the time comes.
herman: indeed!
Lina: yup, lesson learnt!
Yup, never assume. I have made assumptions in the past and have learned my lesson.
wah, you get sent home because your access card stopped working??
I wanna work with your company too!!
blur ting: gotta confirm and re-confirm!
sourrain: erm, cos the building’s management don’t work on weekends and there wasn’t anything my boss could have done about it. So, no point hanging around lah!
I’m going to comment on a slightly differnet topic here, that is the subject of going out alone. It’s interesting cause back home in Australia I had never really considered going out alone. When Friday or Saturday night rolled around there was always an option of SOMEONE to go out with, and if there wasn’t I’d just stay home. I always thought I’d feel like a loser going out on my own. But since I’ve moved to China, things have changed. I don’t know many people and have had to make new friends all over again. I’ve also found myself doing a lot of things on my own; going out to bars, going to restaurants, sitting at cafes; things I wouldn’t do back home. One night I decided to go out to a club on my own ‘for an hour’ and it turned out to be a really big night partying with a group of random strangers from all different parts of the world!! Anyway…conclusion is that going out on your own is under-rated; you can have a great time!
BTW it is sooo annoying when mixed messages like the one you described occur; happened to me many times!! My theory is that the best nights out are impromptu and come with not much prior planning!
Yup – I have gone out on my own before but I still prefer the company of good friends. And agree on the impromptu nights out, because everything is a bonus when there wasn’t any expectations.