Weird...

Ok, at work this week I got weirded out. Here's a scenario - you tell me if you thought this was weird too.

So there's a colleague of mine who's getting married in a few weeks. She received her first wedding gift. She was mad/upset/peed off that the value of this gift was $40. I don't mean just a little bit - I mean she went on and on and on and on and on about it. To the point where she removed the online registry so no-one else could purchase the same thing.

I think it made her even more mad because I didn't see the problem. I told her that when I got married (both times actually) it never occurred to me to worry about the value of the gift. I pinged Rach and asked her (as she's getting married) and asked her if she'd be mad if she got a $40 gift. She kept my sanity and confirmed that it was OK.

Now, I think this is a tri-state thing. Apparently (!), it's a big deal and when you accept an invitation to a wedding you should plan on giving the amount of the plate (ie food, drink, tip) (x2 if you take a partner) in either money or gifts. It's looked on poorly if you don't. Now, to put this in context, a plate of food per person at a wedding here is about $200. That means you're expected to drop a gift of $350-400 just for showing up to celebrate with your husband/partner.

I honestly couldn't believe it.....can you?

Blinking weirdos over here on the east coast.