Why Is Everyone So Mad That I Want a Luxury 40th Birthday?

Can we talk about the absolute comedy show that is internet outrage?

I recently dropped a GoFundMe link to raise forty thousand dollars for an epic world tour to celebrate my upcoming fortieth birthday. Did I hold anyone hostage? No. Did I force a single person to open their wallet? Absolutely not. I just left the link there and said, hey, if you want to chip in and be part of the celebration, do your thing.

Cue the pearl clutching and the absolute digital riots in my comments. People lost their minds. I got hit with a wall of hate, screaming things like, get a job bitch, get another job, you greedy selfish bitch, there are people starving, there are single moms who actually need help!

Just because I am a self-sufficient woman who dared to ask my community to pitch in for a milestone I have legitimately earned.

Meanwhile, let us look at what the internet happily funds every single day. If someone’s life is an absolute dumpster fire, the algorithm rewards them instantly. Want to raise money because you got arrested for drunk driving and need legal fees to bail yourself out of your own stupid decisions? The donations roll in. Want to pop out kids you cannot afford, refuse to get a job, and live off government assistance because you know the system will coddle you? Total support.

Hell, if I decided to raise money for in vitro to become a single mother, I would probably get a million donations and everyone would clap. But because I just want to raise forty thousand dollars for a world tour to celebrate my fucking self after four decades of doing everything right, it is a massive problem. Always a fucking problem.

The Invisible Single American

This goes way beyond just my birthday. This touches every single person out there flying solo who is tired of being treated like a ghost in this economy.

If you are a single American who plays by the rules, you are essentially the throwaway class. There is no safety net for you. Single Americans don't get food stamps, we don't get government assistance, and we certainly don't get housing vouchers. Fall behind on your rent, and society tells you to pull yourself up by your bootstraps. You are expected to carry your weight in total silence, pay your taxes, and never ask for a damn thing.

It is almost like society looks at a responsible person and thinks, wait a minute, where is your chaos? Where is your crisis? How dare you be peaceful, successful, and just want to have a good time?

Why We Keep Rewarding the Mess??????

Like Hello?! We keep rewarding dysfunction. When you constantly shower sympathy and cash on people who make terrible choices, refuse to work, and bring total chaos into the world, you get more of that exact behavior. People lean into the mess because they know the village will rush in to rescue them.

On the flip side, we punish people for doing good. I have lived forty years without ever going to jail, without ever committing a crime, and without ever asking the government for a handout. I am educated, I am healthy, I take care of myself, and I don't have a trail of mess attached to my name. But the moment I ask my community to help fund a fabulous trip to celebrate the fact that I survived and thrived, society acts like I committed a felony.

It is time to change the energy. We need to start celebrating people who are doing good, living right, and building a great life. If a community can mobilize a small army of cash for every person whose life is falling apart, then a good person should be able to ask for a birthday fund without the internet throwing a tantrum. Drop the hate, fund the fun, and let’s start rewarding people who actually figured out how to win at life.