Atoke’s Monday Morning Banter: Time to Go

The weather has been incredibly beautiful in the past few weeks and staying indoors is a bit of a bummer. So, I spent the weekend with my friend. The weather forecast looked really good so she reckoned it’d be good to have her neighbours over for barbecue and cocktails. We seasoned everything that was going on the grill and by noon I started looking out of the window for when the guests would start arriving. “Calm down, I told them to come by 3pm and they’re not Nigerians so they’ll come on time“.

Truly, the first guest arrived around half past two and the others came by 3pm. It was a nice day out, and with the cocktails flowing so freely, it was very easy to chat a lot and eat more than usual. People were having fun:  the kids were going down the slides and jumping on the trampoline, the parents were helping themselves to more chicken and kebabs.

I must have had a little too much of the fancy punch because, I started feeling woozy and I needed to lie down for a bit and to check my Instagram feed for what the cool kids were getting up to. Around 7pm, the noise from the garden had reduced completely.

“Ahn ahn, what happened? Did your guests all leave at the same time?“

To which she responded: “I just mentioned casually that it’s past the kids’ bed time. And like I pressed the ‘Eject’ button they all left”.

It was absolutely hilarious. What? Who chases away their guests? By 8pm we had cleared the garden, cleaned the grill, cleaned the kitchen and were sitting in the living room for a nice cuppa.

“Don’t you like how we’ve finished everything quickly and we’re now resting?” She asked.

Actually, I did. The week before, we’d had a similar garden party – with Nigerians. I didn’t leave the kitchen till well after 11pm. The guests didn’t arrive on time and then they lingered, and lingered, and lingered (Okay, you get my point). All sorts of subtle and not-so-subtle hints had been dropped. In fact, she had tried that “It’s a school night. I want to put the kids to bed” move the week before and nothing happened. “Nigerians have tougher skin than that. People don’t go when the booze is still flowing.“

I know we have a thing about arriving late to parties, but I was wondering if there was a thing about when to leave as well. I remember some years ago at my friend’s brother’s wedding in Balmoral Events Center. The party was rocking so much that we didn’t leave. In fact, the Balmoral people had to put off the lights. At that point, the DJ had to pack up. I was truly sad. There’s really no party like an Alo party!

Someone recently told me of how he stated a Start and Stop time on the invite to his party and some people were offended that he did that. He said that he was accused of not wanting them to really enjoy themselves. I didn’t understand the correlation. If the organizer says the party ends at 6pm, for reasons best known to him, surely it shouldn’t be taken as being a slight on your own person.

Back when I was in secondary school, Owambes used to be an overnight affair with the musician playing till dawn. However, there was a saying back then that once the meat finishes, that’s the clue to know that the party has ended. So, caterers used to hide meat just so that people would go home and they could start clearing up.

Indeed, that’s really the time to go. No! Really, this is my cue to stop.

Please share your thoughts on the subject of lingering guests. Share times when you’ve been unwilling to leave a party – as a guest. As a host, do you mind when there’s a protracted stay by the guests? Would you be offended if your hosts says “There’s work tomorrow!” Or would you yourself a clue and wear your shoes?

Let’s share some fun experiences this morning.

Have a lovely week ahead. Remember to do the right thing within your area of influence. Be kind, stay happy and remain positive.

Peace, love & cupcakes.
Toodles!

Photo Credit: gigsalad.com
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Atoke – Writer | Lover | Noisemaker. Twitter – @atoke_