I think most people are familiar with R.S.V.P., which is typically found at the bottom of most invitations. It's French for "Repondez s'il vous plaît," meaning respond please to the invitation. In other words, let me know if you're coming or not. It's aggravating when you're the host of something and people don't respond. You don't know how to plan. I've learned over the years to plan for the number of 'yeses' I receive. There are always some people who say yes but don't show up, and some who don't respond but do show up anyway. I add 10% to that for good measure, and it usually works out.
I'm sure there are many good excuses why people don't R.S.V.P., but the most common one, I think, is that they forgot. I try to respond promptly, but I have been known to wait to the last minute when I forgot. However, there may be another reason that I discovered recently. I was talking with Wally, asking if he was going to go to a family function. He said yes, and then I said he needed to RSVP. He said he didn't need to because you only needed to tell people that you aren't coming. What?! Maybe this was a generational thing, so I asked Theo what he thought it meant. He agreed with me that you need to let the host know one way or the other whether you are coming or not. However, he said that many invitations are now made over social media, and the rules can be looser.
So, what does RSVP mean to you? Do you think I have an old-fashioned view of it?
Until next time...
