Do you feel uncomfortable with birthdays?

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Looks like I'm not alone in this then, especially if the poll results are anything to go by.

Parties are not even the issue for me though. Not because I enjoy them, but because generally speaking they're just totally out of the question. And they don't bother me as much in the rare cases when they're not.

Like, last January (I mean, 2020) it was my grandfather's 100th birthday. I didn't have to say anything, I didn't have to do anything (other than pose for a picture... ugh), I just had to be there. Normally that would mean I would feel that my presence was completely redundant, but I could see the significance of the occasion in this case, and the significance of simply having every member of the extended family there.

It was exhausting, no surprise there, but it didn't feel like it was hollow or unnecessary. I can't say the same for most instances of people even just acknowledging my birthday or vice-versa though. Like, what does it even mean to "be happy for someone's birthday"? I don't mind if my parents invite me to eat out "coincidentally" on my birthday and leave it at that. That's fine. But I feel like now, with my niece coming out of toddlerhood, there's renewed interest in "standard" hyped-up social family stuff. Don't mind uncle Snail, he's just grumpy. Let's clap and jump and sing "happy birthday uncle Snail yaaaay"!

I find it insulting, even if I know that their intention is good. They know I don't like it, but still they force me to pretend I do, like I'm a prop. I don't think it's doing the child any good either, but there doesn't seem to be anything I can do about it that won't make things unnecessarily worse for everyone.

I don't mind my birthdays, because I don't find them very important. If people want to congratulate me, I'm fine with that. I try to care more about other people's birthdays. They obviously matter to them, so I try to go the extra mile to make them feel cared for.

I like having birthdays.  I mean, if I stopped having birthdays, I would be dead, and I do not want to be dead.

it is just another day I absolutely hate it when people make a fuss. I will be 70 this year and I hate that somebody who knows me is already threatening to throw a surprise party. She doesn't know or understand me if she actually thinks I would like this. I have told her, but I am very anxious over this and my birthday is months away. I care about this friend but I find I rarely understand her, and she teases me in ways I don't understand. Now she has found a sore spot to poke at, that may be all she is doing. Very distressing because I just don't understand.